東方千樓倒 (Touhou Senrōutō): Madness Inducing Blossom and Paper
by Invincible East
Summary: Miles Franson, a college student, thinks he is cursed. Every time people reads something he writes, they would inevitably die. When fate sends a strange, grammatically awkward email from a mysterious person named "Kourin", he was offered a trip to Japan. From there, he would uncover a truth unique to him, as well as unwittingly starting one of the biggest incidents in Gensokyo.
1. Chapter 1

**"Seals are a wide favorite of diviners for a reason. It is not used because of something you are unable to kill, but it is because you shouldn't."**

-Zhou Bai, from the section of his contributions in the _Book of Changes_

* * *

 _ **東方千樓倒**_ _ **(Touhou Chirodou) ~ Madness Inducing Blossom and Paper**_

 **Chapter 1 – The Melancholic Writer from the Consumerist Era**

* * *

Have you ever find yourself at a situation where it's so grueling, so torturous that it hurts to even just _live_? I'm sure you have, it could vary from a very literal situation of being the unfortunate victim, or purely as a hyperbole. For me, it's the latter.

General Calculus II. My second college course for mathematics, and in my opinion, costly, complex, and boring.

Dull.

"Here equation. Find X. Use solution. Too late. Here answer. Next slide." That pretty much summed up the entire lesson. I sighed and closed my laptop. The Word processor on it was blank, not because I did not take the all mighty important notes from the impatient professor, but it's that there was little to none inspirations I had during the last forty-something minutes.

I never was, and perhaps never will, be the straightforward math or science kind of guy. No, I'm more of the philosophical and romantic type. I think, not in the direction of a way to cure carcinoma, but _why_ is there carcinoma. Is there more to carcinoma? Basically, I am that weird kid who talked with ambiguous metaphors and sometimes spoke to himself.

Being the current reincarnation of Socrates, I tend to think a lot. And often my imagination would manifest my thoughts into something intelligible. Then my hand would crave to jot down the brief, fleeting thought onto paper. After that, my brain goes through a session of "what ifs", checking and crossing out the elements I've conjured up for the idea. Basically, my own way of drafting an initial idea. To save time, I am a writer, fiction mind you, and I sometimes despaired at myself, wasting away on paper instead of joining my Facebook friends' hiking trip in this informative age.

Well fuck. Another day of going through my evening classes, evening classes that I sometime despise, and yet not a single worthy speck of inspiration came up. Inspiration for my latest magnum opus I've been working on. Ugh, great. Time to head back to my dorm. On the bright side though, as compensation, I gained a few inches of EXP to my Healthy Adolescent Character Growth bar.

My friend Bill once asked if I aimed to become a writer, an author, when I get out of college. My response? Yes, but I said it with such a tone you might think I'm depressed. Personally, I feel like the twenty-first century is one of the worst times to be a writer. Everyone had access to everything anywhere online, with my generation being too lazy to read a single paragraph due to their murdered attention spans. Oh yes, I'm the special snowflake this generation deserves. Still, looking at the other authors, it seemed like this occupation meant little as a viable career. But hey, you don't do it for the money right? I might be uncertain about my future in this day and age, but at least pursuing my dreams would be better than working as a burger-flipper at Wendy's.

What else could I do with such untameable imagination?

The hallway. Crowded like your local mall at a Black Friday, except it's for two-hundred eighty or ninety some days instead of one. Everyone moved like as if they were in a bad, unnecessary slow-mo scene, but they were just like me, the lesser evils who wished to keep the traffic moving. The real threats here are those that for some reason stops in the middle of three-hundred something people and begin to either text, talk to their friends who are doing the same, or both.

I rolled my eyes for like several laps at the sight. Those people have a special place for them in the afterlife, because of their nonexistent spatial awareness as well as their inconsiderateness toward the rest of us. Traffic jam simulator 2013.

After a Long while, by that I mean grade-A Long with a capital L, I finally got to my dorm. I threw my stuff onto my messy bed and shut the door. A nice hot shower later I took out my laptop and booted my Word document for the story I've been working on for the past few months. All right, so I wouldn't hide it: I'm a huge anime nerd. Bill suggested I should become a movie or TV director, seeing on how I loved to write fiction. Well, it's not a bad idea, but being the geek I am I was more interested on how the latest episode of this anime would play out (which, by the way, was the _epitome_ of the high school cliché).

Well I never really took his advice to head, but I did start writing my current story. It's a fan fiction of the last anime I watched, mostly to fill up the plot holes to satisfy myself. I admit, it was kind of fun. Everyday I thought of ways to improve it. But because I didn't have any idea on how to proceed through the latest scene (and it stinked, because I was really counting on myself to think of a way to deal with the famous deus ex machina in the show), I mostly spent the rest of my afternoon editing the previous chapters/episodes.

Which was unnecessary, really. They were all perfectly polished on my first attempt, devoid of any obvious plot holes, damaged prose, and spelling errors. Heh, it's kind of weird, writing down a Japanese medium entirely in English. I'm confident that I might actually make it in there if I submit my writing in.

You see, I'm just an average guy. College student living off instant noodles and Bs. If I may have sounded so arrogant on my writing abilities, it's 'cus I just am. A more harsher individual once commented that my works were the only redeeming factor to the random nobody known as Miles Franson. Can't say I disagree with that.

Writing's had, and will always be, my life. There is a reason why everybody who read my works thinks they were phenomenal.

And the same reason of why they all had died.

Okay, I suppooooose I'm not so average after all. I'm _Average_ , Average as in how the main characters in anime are "average" aside from their broken abilities and powers. Man, I am exactly like those guys.

There is more to my writings. I don't really know how to describe it, nor I know how exactly it works, but it seemed like whatever I write on paper, so long as they form proper sentences and convey a certain imagery, people will die from reading them. They just, _die_. I don't know how, but I've been taking to call this strange "ability" of mine demonic writing. Not exactly demonic in the traditional way, because I don't know how to rewrite the Necronomincon, but it was the unsettling coincidence that literally everyone who had read my physical works on paper had died that deemed it devilish. Think of it as...some weird alternation/rip-off attempt from Death Note.

A good example-and demonstration-of this ability was during my early days in the pre-K. I was six or seven or something, when one day our young, happy-go-lucky teacher Ms. Jener told us to bring something for the Show and Tell. Well, to me it was a Write and Tell, because instead of bringing my stuffed animal or valued blanket or whatever Ms. Jener expected us to bring, I, for some reason, decided to write down a favorite memory of mine on paper. It was a messy paragraph of my father riding me peacefully down the summer coast, on a bicycle.

When it was my turn for the Telling, I simply passed up my paper to Ms. Jener.

Stared. That really was what I remember about the scene. She stared at middle of the paper, not reading its contents. But she looked as if she was in a spell. She was dazed. For the duration, which I think lasted for a minute, my teacher was absorbed at the squiggly, curvy lines that resembled letters.

"Wow," she said, her mouth emphasized on the first w longer than it should, "Miles, that was the best story I've ever read. Really, the picture I see in my head seemed to be so real." She handed me back the paper, personally, and then told me of my potential as a writer and such. I dunno if it was her compliment, but ever since that day I felt something had awakened inside of me. My passion, from that moment, became writing. Perhaps I wanted to wrote just for more praises, perhaps I wrote to satisfy myself who knows.

What I do know is that I was somehow responsible for what happened to her afterwards. The next day, a new teacher walked into our classroom and told us that Ms. Jener had died from a gas explosion in her house.

It was a gut feeling. I knew it was me that killed her. So for the rest of the day, while my peers were complaining over the difficult complementary arithmetics lesson, I choked on the yet defined feeling of guilt, barely hanging onto the torturous, stomach twisting moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Autonomous Doll in Pseudo Hell**

* * *

What happened after Ms. Jener died? Nothing much, really. Life went on. Us kids didn't think about the whole ordeal much, as death wasn't exactly a clear concept to us yet. We all had thought she just went to a different, better place. Especially me. I knew she did, but I still was greatly troubled by the fact that it was I who killed her.

I didn't learn my lesson though, if there was any to begin with. I mean, what was indirect murder to a kindergartener, really? Life went on. After that day, I began to write whenever I can. I wrote down my thoughts, I described the cartoons on TV, I jotted down weird things people said. The death of Ms. Jener was quickly dismissed inside my head. She's in a better place now, right? Could I really blame myself, when I was the one that sent her there? Writing served me as my drive to succeed in life, and it did well.

I wrote mercilessly. Everyday I kept on writing. Be it a journal or an essay, I wrote. The pen moved so long as I lived. In turn, people wanted to read my works, and I obliged. They started dying left and right, confirming my theory on my strange power.

People dropped like flies. Strangers, teachers, classmates, they all did, all wanted to read the fruits of my labor. I sometimes viewed them no more than words on paper. All it took was several good rubs of an eraser, and then they became meaningless to me. Like the useless strings of the rubbery graphite afterwards, I tossed people away after they gave their compliments. With this power in my hands, life became easily disposed as I abused it. I faced no rivals, because they were all too busy dying. Sometimes I even went as far to intentionally let someone read a simple paragraph just to read their expressions, for inspirations of my upcoming novels.

By writing, I suppressed my screaming emotions. I locked them up somewhere in a dark corner of my heart. They were shut out from my penmanship.

Inspired from the quote of a certain secret agent, I am afraid that if I stop writing, all of my accumulative guilt will literally _kill me_. With me simply moving the pen, I coped through my soul-crushing depression and otherwise schizophrenia I would have.

Were those people stepping stones to where I am now? Maybe, but it has been a long, long time, since there was someone to read my work. Most of the dead people were strangers or people who I didn't care about. But, damn it, Bill...I explicitly told him not to read anything I wrote down on paper, but he...he had to. It was too late when I saw him reading a scrap page, fished out from my backpack.

"Dude, those guys were right. You're so goddamned good at writing."

* * *

 _I suddenly found myself in a hazy mood and atmosphere. The wind felt pleasant. Cherry blossoms as far as the eye could see. Over there, at the edge of a cliff, something caught my easily dispersed attention. It was the biggest cherry blossom tree I've ever seen, and infinitely times more beautiful than the other ones._

 _A gust of wind blew and cherry petals began to flow around me dramatically. For certain, spring had come. I felt oddly nostalgic, being at this place. My feet automatically carried me towards that tree. It's presence enchanted me. I was drawn towards it, like a hopeless white moth who fell for with a blazing campfire..._

 _Outer of the corner of my eyelids, I spot what appeared to be two people standing nearby, watching me. Who were they? Why do I feel like I know them? What is this place? What is this...tree?_

"Ugh..." I involuntarily woke up. The sheets of my bed didn't do their job so well; I could feel the cold Feburary wind poking my legs. For some reason I forgot to close the windows last night. Great.

Also, that was a weird ass dream. It felt...mystical. I had an overwhelming sense of nostalgia there. Hm, typical dream. Too bad I don't really remember much to make good use of it in my literature.

After a morning shower, I went down to the cafeteria. For some reason breakfast and lunch here is free, but dinner isn't. Luckily, as written in Bill's dying wish, I inherited his entire collection of instant noodles, which could last me a year if I play my cards right. Unluckily, Bill is dead.

A sour taste spread across my mouth. God damn it Bill, who told you to do that. With thought of my deceased friend, my appetite for breakfast vanished as quickly as the dream I had earlier. A cup of cold water relieved me, but only briefly.

His funeral.

The preacher guy, his family, which composed of his father and mother, and me. That's was all the people there, who went to attend the funeral of this dead kid named Bill.

I hated it.

I hated the reality of his death. I hated myself for killing him. I hated the laughable amount of people there. I hated his obscurity in this world, that no one aside from the few people there will remember the kid who attended high school and college with me.

Will I be like that?

* * *

It was difficult at first, but I managed to persuade most of my pre-college teachers to accept the work I hand in to be typed out. Because apparently when sitting behind a screen, the words formed on my keyboard loses their magic. It had to be written on paper. I-and my potential victims-was very lucky to realize this flaw.

What about the law, you ask? Surely I would have got arrested and contained somewhere by now. Well, seeing that I could walk around the campus freely, I'd say nope. For some reason, nobody found out my victims all shared a similar fate: accidents. They all had died from some force beyond their control, as if fate simply had enough of their shit. You'd think the police would have pieced everything together by now, after like some thirteen years, but, well, unfortunately to anyone that cares, spoiler: they probably didn't.

There was still some time before my classes, so I went back to my dorm and decided to read some of my previous works. Bill had a friend who worked in a printing and publish company. Even though I hated him for not attending Bill's funeral, that friend did do me some good service. Twelve books, boasting in genuine pages and paperback, lined up behind the locked see-through glass of my closet. Being the only copies in this world, those twelve books were some of my masterpieces throughout my years of writing. I had to pay a good sum for those to be printed out(and perhaps the life of quite a few of the workers there who had to read them), but it was worth it. Seeing the books, I would feel a sense of accomplishment, a feeling that I actually did something. I actually mattered, even if only to myself.

The closet was locked because I treasured these. Also I didn't want anyone to die accidentally, for like the fifth time.

I inserted the key into the lock of the shelf and took out a book I titled _A Toast to the Moon_ , which was basically about this guy in his fifties trying to find his first love again. Yeah, I was inspired by this shitty romance movie I had to watch with my peers in middle school. And also my own first love, but let's not talk about it.

The bed proved to be a suitable location for the duration of reading through the otherwise slim book, so I did exactly just that. The chill breeze struggled to weasel through the tiny crack in the window. Cold and quiet, not too bad for a reading environment.

Even though I could spell out the plot with the back of my hand, reading it was a whole different story. Er, pun intended. Ms. Jener was right, the imagery she saw _was_ real.

As I flipped to the first page, the prologue began like a storm. Literally.

* * *

 _Black clouds reigned the town, the howling wind screamed to rob the life of anyone foolish enough to leave their houses. Torrents of rain flooded the streets. The drains and manholes on the street tried their best to fulfill their purpose, but it was futile, as a large bolt of lightning came down and crashed upon them. They were smoldered to ashes for a brief moment before quickly washed away by the waters._

* * *

Doesn't sound too much like a thought-provoking romantic novel, right? It was as if Zeus said "screw this manhole in particular". But it was there, part of the prologue. Another thing is that if you were actually reading the physical copy, you would know why paper was the ideal summoning ground for the demons of my penmanship.

There was a plenty of imagery on that short excerpt, but what I had seen was very different than what you had seen. For you, you saw the scene inside of your head, playing it out like a script. Well, I was literally there. No, my body wasn't magically transported to the middle of the storm, but it sure felt like I did. I wanted to shiver and cover myself, standing in the rain. I witnessed the unfortunate manhole receiving the the smite of God. I watched its pitiful remains carried away by the unrelenting storm.

I watched my own words coming alive, and I saw the scene through my own eyes, following the lead of the narrator. It was extremely vivid. It also felt like a dream, because you couldn't really do anything but look around.

Sensory overload, that was my ability, and I seem to be the only one totally immune to its dire after effects. Watching my painted words form real environments was a hell of an ego check.

* * *

Wow, that wasn't so bad. I finished the book in one sitting, but only because it was a hundred something pages. Anyway, my work aged considerably, given that I wrote it in middle school, but it still had its captivating charms.

Y'know, perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I could a write book by typing out the entire thing. I would find an editor, and then have the publishing company do their work. With my abilities, I could easily make it in the industry, and after snagging some books under my belt, I would retire. Then I live out the rest of my life peacefully...right?

...No. I don't want to risk a mass murder.

There is...sort of a last resort option I had in mind, but it'll probably never happen. You see, what fiction had taught me was that no matter what kind of superpower or strange ability you possess, chances are there is always somebody out there who shares the same boat as you. I believe Miles Franson here is not alone in this world. Super strength, super speed, eye lasers, invisibility, heck, it's respectable even if you have the ability to eat broccoli without gagging.

However, that doesn't mean I am ready to step into the world of occult and endanger my life. Ever since that incident in pre-K, I kept my power a secret. Even if people know I'm a good writer, nobody realized what will happen to them afterwards. Bills didn't know. My dad didn't know. Fuck, I think Bills had some suspicions, and because of that he paid the price.

Still, think of the potential jobs I would have if I revealed myself to the underground world. Maybe there would be a black market for my books. Maybe...I could walk down the darker side of my path and become an unorthodox hitman, or assassin, perhaps?

...

I got off my bed and stretched. The clock showed that I still have a little more than a hour until the classes, so I put back the book inside my closet, rightfully and chronologically next to _My Love for the Stained Glass of Yale_.

Hm, still have some time before I go. How about a little trip to the internet?

The first thing I did after I turned on my laptop was to check my email, because habit.

There were no new mails in the inbox, but there _was_ one at the junk section. Which was weird, because I haven't received any junk or spam ever since the site updated its thing.

My mouse clicked the junk section. A lone and strange mail titled " _Business from yakuza_ " greeted me.

Huh, weird.

I was about to delete it when...I couldn't? For some reason, the mail doesn't go away when I click delete. Hey, is this some kind of advanced virus?

Well, it didn't really matter. I was getting a new laptop anyways. This one could take a beating. I evacuated my important files a long time ago, so it wouldn't hurt to satisfy my curiosity.

The mail went on like this:

* * *

 **Hello Miles franson. I am 'Kourin', a member of the japanese gang Yakuza.**

 **We know every part of your life in america. Please follow our instructions if you value your life.**

 **We know about your special "abilities" by writing books. we want to commission you to write a special story for the Daughter of our boss, leader of the yakuza. she is a big horror fan, nothing can scare her, so we wish for u to write a good scary story. you will be paid handsomely after you finish. A sum of 42000,0 円 will be transferred to your account. We will provide you a passport and visa for the trip. plane tickets already paid. you will be given 3 months to write your book. good luck.**

 **-Kourin from yakuza**

* * *

What is this? I don't even...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Materialistic Value is What Makes the World Go Round**

* * *

The nation where the sun rises, the nation where its bustling culture met the highly industrious eras of this time. Japan, the nation where formerly isolated itself from the world, is currently isolating a whole another land within it. Somewhere inside the Yatsugatake Mountains, a place rejected by the consumerist and scientific common sense, secluded itself from Japan, or the rest of the world, for that matter.

Gensokyo, Land of Illusions and Land of Fantasy, a mythical land where the great beings of the many Japanese folklores dwelled.

At this time, where the human Miles Franson was at his dormitory in America, something else was happening in this strange, secluded location on the other side of the world. It was the Year of Moon, Winter, and Water, the one hundred twenty-seventh season in Gensokyo.

A Shinto shrine sat on a small hill, native to the eastern parts of the land. The late Feburary snow coated its holy grounds, but the sun was shining bright as ever. Spring soon will arrive, and the residential tender of the shrine will perhaps set up another one of her tree watching festivals. Which will probably turn into a huge, messy party like the previous ones. The master of the shrine, who was also the only shrine maiden of the place, sat under her kotatsu inside. Long, sleek black hair with side locks, red and white ribbon along with her kimono. One look at her and everyone in Gensokyo would recognize the girl as Reimu Hakurei, professional exterminator and slacker.

The shrine was named after the girl's family lineage, the Hakurei, and believe it or not, it is perhaps the most important location in the land.

Shrine maiden Reimu was in a drowsy mood thanks to the extremely toasty table she's sitting at. The intoxicating warmth was too much. _Whoever invented this thing_ , she thought, _is cool with me_.

Reimu yawned a few times and grabbed an orange. She didn't plan to eat it, really, she just thought it was amusing to peel it for some reason. After the fruit lay naked, stripped of its skin, Reimu blinked several times, reconsidering her life choices.

 _Why did I peel this again..._

The girl yawned loudly again and chose to take a nap. There wasn't much work for her to do recently. Maintaining the shrine, chasing away pranking fairies, chit-chatting with the few regulars here. Her real duty was to resolve the weird incidents happening in Gensokyo, which had occurred more than she could count over the years. It had been some time since the last one, but Reimu was still really tired.

It's either she spend days peacefully napping like this, or she risks her life confronting people who had a screw loose inside their heads.

Reimu teared up from the yawning, in which she then placed the orange down on the table. She got up and closed the sliding doors of her shrine. Afterwards, the kotatsu was reoccupied, and she lied underneath it.

 _I've earned this one._

Which wasn't true, because all she did today was lazing around the shrine. She may have referred to her previous jobs on maintaining order in the land, but at the moment the girl's too tired to think complicatedly like that.

A few seconds in and she's already in her own Gensokyo. Soft snores resonated throughout the room, and saliva was already dripping out of her mouth.

If only she could be like this forever, sleeping away without a care in the world...

 _Clink._

A certain onomatopoeia, pleasing to the ear, found its way to the shrine maiden. It came from the outside.

At the very moment her body was revitalized, and her mind refreshed.

 _Clink clink._

Her eyes instantly opened.

 _Clink clink clink._

What is this? Something was very wrong. She was doubting her own sharp sense of hearing, which was honed by her spiritual fortitude. But there was no doubt.

She was hearing coins getting tossed in her donation box.

A quick character bio for the Donation Box of the Hakurei Shrine: large, wooden, and emptier than Reimu's soul when she checks it at given times. Because her shrine was located so far away from the one human village of Gensokyo, and because she was known to let youkai-Japanese folklore ghosts and creatures-hang out at the vicinity, no one dared to make the pilgrimage to pay their respects. For years, her box was empty, and for years, Reimu despaired of dying poor and alone.

But she was hearing someone dropping coins at this very second.

Reimu practically jumped up from the kotatsu and dashed outside to see what in the dragon god's name was happening. At the front of her donation box, now well endowed with money, stood a tall young human in his twenties. Messy short hair and unshaved stubbles, Reimu made him out to be the son of the human village's leader and chief. When seeing the shrine maiden, the man gave her a smirk.

"Yo."

"W-W-What the bloody hell are you doing?" She tried to act suspicious, but her excitement was barely contained. Who could blame her, really? Years of practically rotting away at her run-down shrine made almost every visitor here (who were mostly nonhuman) depressed.

"I'm just here on behalf of the village."

Reimu made a sound that was close to "Wha". The poor girl was simply too busy looking at her newly acquired wealth. Real, genuine money piled above the box.

"Everyone wanted to thank you for your services, but they were too scared to go."

"A-And you just came here?"

"I ain't afraid of the youkai," he smiled, then flung the large bag he carried the coin with over his shoulders. "That old hag Yukari haunted me ever since I was a kid, what else could faze me?" The man turned around and went down the stone stairs that led to the shrine, leaving its resident speechless.

As the young man walked back down, a croaked cry came from behind. The shrine maiden howled with all of her might, evidently overjoyed at this occasion.

Watch out, Reimu Hakurei had just became the richest woman in Gensokyo!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Ten Desires: One of Them Being Cash**

* * *

Because Gensokyo was completely cut off from the outside since 1885, the technological advancement here remained stagnant for the past century. As such, the some humans living here were stuck with the 19th century tech, since the land was mostly rural and unaffected by the Meiji period. Though it was really because nobody wanted bothered with such nonsense.

There were some exceptions to Gensokyo's predominant Japanese influence. The Forest of Magic, for example, which is located to the east of the human village, had two particularly "Western" homes hidden in there, clashing with the oriental culture from the rest of the land.

At one of the aforementioned Western houses-a small, white European-styled building-a girl descended down from the skies. She was riding on her broomstick, and much like what that suggests, her outfit was very alike to a traditional sorceress's: black witch hat and dress with a white apron. She had long, flowing blonde hair, and despite the very "cultural" getup, she was Japanese in ethnicity, being a former resident of the human village.

Marisa Kirisame, that was her name. The so called "ordinary magician" is giving her neighbor another one of her friendly visits. She got off her landing vehicle and knocked on the door of the white house loudly.

No response.

She knocked again, harder this time.

Again, no response.

Impatiently, Marisa began pounding the device that was made to block out nuisances exactly such as herself. After a whole minute of the silent treatment, the door was forcibly kicked down.

" **ALICEEEEEEEEEEE~~!** " Marisa hollered with her shrill voice, looking for the owner of this house. " **ALICEEEEEEEEEEEE, SOMETHING** **UNBELIEVABLE'S HAPPENED! ALI- _YEEOOF_!** "

A sharp blow on the back of her head made Marisa crouched to the floor. It wasn't enough to make her faint, but she sure wish she did.

"Stop making such a racket in my house," the housemaster is another blonde haired girl, except with shorter hair. Her fist was raised. "Enter through the door like a normal person next time."

"Ahhh, why'dja hit me so hard..." the witch dressed in black and white held onto the spot where the blow was delivered. She cowered from the intense pain, making sounds a child would get from a booboo.

Alice Margatroid is the name of the seemly cold and distant girl who lived alone in the woods. She wore her usual blue dress with a white shawl draped over her shoulders.

She sighed and took off her reading glasses. This rowdy girl "visited" her house again. Totally uninvited, as usual.

"So? What do you want? What was so 'unbelievable'?" She said, hands to her waist.

When remembering her business here Marisa immediately got up and forgot about the pain. "Oh yeah, that's right, Alice, I uh, Reimu. It's Reimu." She pointed outside. "It's Reimu man! Something's happened to her shrine! I can't believe this!"

"Slow down, will you?" Alice went into her kitchen. A small, floating doll, dressed in a blue apron and had the same silky blonde hair of the duo placed a chair at the corridor, where they stood conversed. The owner of the house then returned with a cup of tea in her hand and sat down with a cynical expression, clearly unamused at the rude interruption of her study.

Marisa grabbed Alice's tea from her hands and chugged down the whole thing. She was real thirsty, but her regret afterwards did not justify the action.

While the witch was painfully gagging over the hotness of the tea, Alice sighed to herself. She repaired her door with the help of several of her little friends. Unlike Marisa, who excelled in the traditional way of blowing stuff up, Alice preferred to her artful puppetry. The latter sometimes considered herself above the annoying intruder of her house in terms of magical aptitude.

"...So what's happened to Reimu?" she said after her automatons nailed the door back in. "Did she find her way into another incident?"

"Oh yeah Reimu, well no uh." Marisa recomposed herself. She laid her broomstick by the corner. "It's Reimu. She got donations."

"Donations?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Good grief that's a new one. Now, however miraculous that may be, what do you say paying for my door?"

"But it's already fixed! Oh, and no, Alice, I'm serious! Reimu..." Marisa nervously said "Reimu...she's got rich. She's got filthy rich man holy crap! I went over to her shrine this morning and the box had money literally piled out of it. They were real...all real..." She shuddered at the inconceivable memory.

"...Are you serious? Hold on Marisa, did you get drunk from having too much sake?"

"Alice, when have I ever lied to you?"

"If you want my honest opinion..."

"Dude, if you don't believe me go check Reimu's shrine yourself. She suddenly got rich overnight, like, that just happened. Is it really happening? Gensokyo's doomed, I say!"

"Hm..." Alice hung her eyebrow in wonder, still skeptical of Marisa's statement. "Do you know how she got that much...money?"

"She wouldn't tell me. Somethin' bout her 'valuing the privacy of her patrons'. That's a loada bull, if you ask me. She probably robbed the village chief or made a deal with a thieving youkai or somethin'."

"Where is she now? Still at the shrine?" Alice looked back at her living room, where she was researching on an ancient textbook. Now that Marisa's roused her curiosity, it wouldn't hurt to check and see if she was telling the truth, right?

"Ah, about that," Marisa scratched her head, but winced when touching the spot Alice hit her. "Yeaaah, Reimu's hellbent on protectin' the human village now. I'd say watch it; anything that was nonhuman was exterminated on sight when trying to enter." Saying this, Marisa had referred to Alice's recently gained identity as a youkai. Not so recent for a mortal human, but very recent for the ageless youkai.

"...That sounds rather suspicious. She's not up to anything now, is she? I need to stock up on my tea leaves by the village some time soon..."

Just then, as the two blonde magicians conversed, another girl made her presence at the entrance of the European house. She had short black hair, and had a vintage camera strapped over her neck.

"Howdy, if it isn't the Magician and the Seven Colored Puppeteer! I, Aya, am proud to announce that your favorite Bunbunmaru Newspaper is having a big scoop today! Be sure to check it out, thanks for your patronage!" So saying she flew through Alice's house with unimaginable speed and left after grabbing the money. At Alice's feet there lied a neatly folded newspaper.

The tengu youkai Aya ran a local paper, and for some reason she delivered them herself today. Alice would have given chase herself at the involuntary purchase if the newsgirl wasn't one of the fastest beings in Gensokyo. Despite the _humans_ having little to no scientific advancements, some of the youkai owned several impressive machinations.

The blonde puppeteer placed a hand on her face and sighed. Today was a little too much. She picked up the newspaper. The headline seemed to be familiar:

* * *

 **Ka-ching! How the Hakurei Shrine Maiden Became the Richest Human in Gensokyo.**

 **It was a well known fact that Reimu Hakurei is the most violent human in Gensokyo, but she is the laziest as well, notoriously. After terrorizing many** **youkai over the years, the red and white shrine maiden had became a cranky woman who eyed her empty donation box everyday despite doing no work for the** **people. However, it became apparent today that she had suddenly acquired an enormous amount of wealth. After going through the box, I found it to be** ¥ **1,210,524 in total** **. Where in the world did she find all this money? Reimu herself did not specify the reason, saying that she "values the privacy of her** **patrons". It's also a mystery that she became extremely vigilant of guarding the human village, patrolling around at this very minute. What was her motive behind all this?** **A little investigation was required, so yours truly, being the master of disguises, infiltrated the village.**

* * *

 **"I don't know what's happening, but with that shrine maiden protecting us I never felt any safer." An old lady from the human village said.**

 **"Big sister shrine maiden is trying her very best for us!" According to a small human girl.**

 **"Man I could see underneath her skirt from here." And finally we have our Mr. Pervert, passing by as I interviewed the humans.**

 **When interviewing Mr. Hachirou, the current chief of the human village, he said he did not have an answer. His son, Takeyoshi, and the next in line for the chief did, however, and he suggested that maybe it's because she was feeling guilty from her (extremely) long personal vacation. "Really a sight to see. Our village wouldn't be disturbed by the youkai for a long, long time."**

 **More at page 6.**

* * *

 _Doesn't she sell this to the humans too?_ Alice flipped to page 6. Despite the misleading title, the article didn't really explain How the Hakurei Shrine Maiden _Actually_ Became the Richest Human in Gensokyo. There was a picture taken though, as a black and white photograph of the new donation box was there at the side. Like Reimu, it's probably happier than ever.

Gensokyo is rather small, so gossips such as this one travels fast. A newspaper like this is killing it.

"Man," Marisa said, looking over Alice's shoulder "the hell's goin' on here. I bet she got that money from beggin' some rich youkai of the mountain."

"Who knows, but you could have at least _tried_ to stop her from going through my purse." What Alice _does_ know is that, given with such strange circumstances given, another incident is probably going to happen again. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine Reimu with her newly acquired funds. Business suit and shades, standing below a tall industrial complex that was renovated from the shrine, like in the pictures she had seen from books of the outside world.

It's was a weird imagery.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - One Decision**

* * *

Fuck it, I'm going to Japan.

I realized that the more I stay at my dorm, the more depressed and angsty I get. It's good to get some fresh air, especially if it's international. College was mad boring anyways. Unlike my peers, I'm fine with my grades.

Okay, maybe that was a shitty reason to comply to a junk mail.

I don't know how the Yakuza had found me, but I'm not going to be an idiot and rebel. Who had balls to say no to them?

I would have dismissed the entire thing as a poorly written joke(both literally and figuratively) if they didn't send the stuff they promised. Passport, fake(?)ID, and two first class airline tickets to Tokyo and Kyoto, with my name printed on them. I don't know about you, but I was convinced. After a rather lengthy and difficult meeting with the staff I managed to excuse myself from college. The rest of the day was spent packing up my stuff.

Which wasn't much. My laptop, phone and charger, a few changes of clothes, toothbrush and paste, a deck of UNO cards, and my twelve self-published books for safekeeping. Have I ever told you on how good I am at UNO?

It was a free trip after all. As one of the brooding international fan of the Japanese culture(read: anime), visiting Japan was naturally a dream I once thought about. I didn't think it would actually arrive _this_ soon, though.

One problem: where the hell do I go? I've got two tickets, which, god bless, were both first class. Tokyo and Kyoto, one being the most popular and visited location there and one being an ancient city full of history.

Another problem: I don't speak the fucking language. Ah, but Japan is a famous tourist spot anyways. I'm pretty sure they got some English speaking guide at the airport. If not, that "Kourin" guy better be there as my escort or something.

It may not look like it at first, but the amount of money they're offering, 420,000 yen, is actually a decent amount. While the conversion is not exact, the trick is to move the decimal two times to the left when converting from yen to USD. Basically, take off two zeroes. I'd then get around $4200. Yes, not a lot a first, but if I manage to stay and do more jobs for them in the future, I could save up the money and pay off my student fees once and for all. Easy money, easy life.

...Maybe too easy. Still, at least it's worth a try.

In the end I decided Kyoto was the place to go. The Yakuza's pretty much everywhere in the nation, right? It was probably my choice anyways. Since I was tasked...ahem, _commissioned_ , to write up a horror story for the Princess, I figure the old city might have some old and juicy urban legends going around.

Which reminds me: I can only write in English. Sorry, but like I said, the language is foreign to me, no matter how much I learned and was influenced by anime. Hopefully they got some sort of translator they're willing to sacrifice...the girl too. If they know about my ability, then they better be prepared for a funeral, which I'll probably skip out unless firmly asked.

I'm dead serious here. If they were shocked when she kicked the bucket, because of some bad intel...well, what can I tell ya? Having the friggin' Yakuza chasing me throughout the rest of my life is not going to be a fun experience.

So, horror, huh. The girl's got some really nasty death wish there. I never wrote any horror, but I've thought about it. If somebody read a scary story I wrote though, they'll probably spend the little remainder of their lives contained in some asylum. No really, the trauma is going to be off the charts. Think of me as a walking virtual reality service.

The airport process was surprisingly easy. I knew what to do and where to go since I traveled on a plane before, but that was with my dad. The guys did their usual frisking and metal detecting and didn't really ask me much questions, to my relief.

And now I know how it feels to be a part of the first class club. Ahh, my filthy, peasant ass is delighted to make acquaintance with you, seat #48. The flight's going to be long...twenty-eight something hours at the very least. Luckily, I know a way to keep myself occupied, at least for a while. There is a new, fresh journal with me, cover white as snow. After all, I am involved with the Yakuza, so it would be wise to have some kind of backup weapon cooked up...

In the meantime, have I ever told you on how fucking good I am at UNO? Seriously, the sole reason I'm bringing my deck is to show off my skills to anyone foolish enough to challenge the champion. From what I saw on the internet, UNO is popular in Japan because "whoa entertainment from a foreign culture." Bill was the only one who could go toe to toe with me, but now that he's dead, I remain the undefeated.

Hahaha, no mortal could ever match the numero UNO!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - A Cold Mirror's Reflection**

* * *

Less than ten minutes after arriving in Japan and I already fucked up, big time.

See, when I got off the plane I expected to see some men in black waiting for me. You know, Yakuza professionals and all.

Nobody was there. So I decided to hang around for a bit, in case there was some traffic and they were running late.

There wasn't really much people around, since everybody on the plane immediately got off and went rushing towards the exit or gift shop or one of those expensive airport restaurants. Gee, Japan really is a busy place.

I stood there for some time before I realized maybe I was supposed to go to Tokyo instead. Maybe the Kyoto ticket was for...my vacation trip after I'm done with the job? I dunno, but I think I screwed up.

That wasn't the fuck-up though. The fuck-up was this.

I figured to wait for a little longer in case my deduction about the Tokyo thing was wrong. So I sat down on an empty chair nearby and took out the white journal from my bag. It was the thing I spent like an hour working during the ride.

Yeah. Not gonna open it. Nope.

I don't even remember what I exactly wrote in there. It was an abomination that felt necessary to create. You see, within that journal, there's nothing but insane rants in there. When I was making that thing, I kind of turned my brain off, as well as my morals. My writing hand was channeled with my inner insanity as it flowed, creating unspeakable horrors with every page. I'll call it the Necronomincon, because it's several times more devilish than my normal works. If you open it up, some kind of monster is gonna pop out, I dunno.

It doesn't make any sense, yeah. I don't know how it worked either. Was it just a side effect of my weird ability? That I could, just close my eyes and conjure up some crazy shit? And no, I'm not gonna turn that in to the Yakuza. Pretty sure it's gonna cause some other detrimental effects other than dying.

The only reason why I bothered to write this was because since I was dealing with the Yakuza, chances are I might get jumped on the streets or something. I was paranoid like that. So then I thought of an "experimental weapon" that might serve as some kind of self-defense mechanism. Specifically designed for this type of situation, I would simply toss the journal into the assailant's face and get away Joseph Joestar style.

So then I was just sitting there, staring at the journal, lacking the required amount of balls to open it. Who knows what kind of shit is gonna pop up? And the cover, white and cold like snow, kind of served as a symbolism. Something pure and innocent contained the unholy. It was enough to write a poem over.

For some reason this old man then came up to me. He was slouching and had messy gray beards on his face. Must have been in his seventies or something. He spoke English too.

"Hey...young man...could I sit?" a shaky finger pointed at my seat. I consented, being the good gentleman I am. But then, something inside of me was wrong. My information gatherng organs did a quick scan on the old man once again, and my brain concluded the identity of this man. Long hair and beard, ragged face, dirty clothes. He smelled bad too. ...Is he a hobo?

"What's that? A book?" With the same shaky, bony finger he pointed at the Necronomincon I was holding.

"Uh...this? It's..." Suddenly, my voice trailed off. My eyes widened at a certain thought.

 _Yo, this is a perfect opportunity!_ Somewhere inside my mind I heard the classic little demon version of me advocating something. _This guy's a homeless scum, the same kind you hated back in the streets of America. Why don't you test your journal out? Let him read it and see what happens. You'll be_ _doing society a favor anyways, put that poor bugger outta his misery._

 _All right_ , I told myself, _where is the angel then? What was his opinion?_

The angel wasn't there.

"It's a book, yeah." I said to the hobo. Was I always this cruel? "Do you want to see it?"

"I can't read 'nemore, haha, but okay, thankya."

Where was the angel?

I was smiling when handing him the journal. A nasty smile. Like a kid knowing for certain that someone will fall for his prank, horribly. Like one of those guys acting like they are innocent but it was them who started it. The devil tempted me without trying.

"Ah, this..."

When the homeless man flipped to a page, his eyes dilated and were turned bloodshot, more so that they were before. His head began to shake, and his breath fastened its pace.

And then his eyes started to bleed.

No, bleed wasn't the right word. They were falling. Like waterfalls, streams of blood spilled out of his eye sockets.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran away, tossing the Necronomincon behind. At the direction of where he went, I heard a maniacal laughter. Did he went insane from whatever's in the journal? All I know was thinking to myself, _that's a reaction I haven't see before_ , like I was a scientist, checking off the results of an experiment on a lab rat.

Soon more screams were heard from over there, and with a faint, final grunt the man collapsed. Or so I heard. People were yelling that he was dead.

At that moment I snapped myself out of whatever state I was in. The journal on the floor glistened from the whiteness of the airport lights. It was so bright to my eyes that I got angry and snatched the journal off the ground and locked it up in my bag. The anger then was directed to myself.

What have I done? How could I let myself kill that homeless man so easily? The most scary thing at that moment was that there wasn't an angel to stop me. There was no basic human moral there. It was as if I never turned it back on, even after the death of the random nobody Bill.

Should I start to get scared of myself?

"Aw shit..." I ran over to where the man was. A small group of people crowded over him and, as much as I hate to do so, I pushed through them to get a better view. There he was, lying on his back and a huge pool of blood underneath him. A small stream was still flowing from his eyes, but it looked mostly dried out. His face also had a disturbing expression. Those parts in fiction where someone dies with a tranquil, peaceful expression is totally bullshit. Even post mortem I could feel the amount of hatred coming from him, hating me for selfishly taking his life away, just to satisfy my morbid curiosities.

Ugh fuck. I had to look away from the twisted corpse in agony, and so did a bunch of others. But it's useless. His face was burned into my mind, and perhaps I will continue to see it for the rest of my life until the day I reunite with him in Hell.

Someone then tugged the back of my shirt. Was that the security? Did someone saw me giving him the journal? ...If so, then so be it. Maybe it's for the best to have someone like me locked up. Where was this overwhelming sense of guilt before, when my previous victims had died?

I turned around and held my hands out, expecting to get cuffed. Instead of a guard though, it was a small, petite Japanese girl. She had medium length brown hair and wore a red pair of glasses.

I looked at her in silence. She did the same.

The girl gazed past me to look at the dead man, then back at me, then the man again. She had a grim expression on her face, but it was quickly dispelled when she said something to me with an intriguing look.

And it was in Japanese.

"Uh," I scratched my head, then thought of the one sentence I made myself to remember the previous day. " _I-I don't speak Japanese..._ "

The girl nodded and said something to herself, most likely commenting on how hard I butchered the sentence with my white accent. She then pointed at my bag...

...and the zipper opened by itself. With a wave of her index finger the zipper was closed again. This was repeated several times, and I stared at her in shock.

She beamed at me, as if saying " _How's that?_ "

Is it finally time? Did I just meet someone who's like me, who has an ability they don't tell anyone about?

The Japanese girl looked over at the corpse again and shook her head at me. Well, I couldn't blame her...unless for some reason she knows I'm the one who killed him.

As if she read my mind the girl smiled and nodded, then gestured a "follow me". She went through the exit after a last look at the dead man. Is she the Yakuza escort? Does the Yakuza have people with special abilities? I don't know, but unlike my brain my legs weren't hesitant. They carried me to the direction where the girl went and after a last glance at my latest casualty, I left the scene. Maybe "fled" was a better word.

Perhaps I should have ignored her and got on my flight to Tokyo. Perhaps I was a fool to follow this stranger in a strange land. The old me would have backed away from this invitation to the occult, but _that_ me didn't. He needed a breather from the twenty-nine hour flight and the indiscriminate murder. I don't blame him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Paleo-traditionalism of Japan**

* * *

The trip was a silent one, to my moderate incredulity. The girl's bright face made me think she was the type to talk to me even though I didn't understand anything. She was pretty short, maybe in middle school. But then again I heard Japanese people are shorter than us Westerners. Anyway, in my humblest opinion, the girl seemed pretty young to be a Yakuza operative.

I was wondering to myself where exactly could the stronghold of the Yakuza be as we went through several taxi rides, bus terminals, a subway, and several jay-walks. Surely the daughter of the almighty boss would live in a huge mansion, Western or Japanese style, had bodyguards with her at all times, and would be spoiled as hell.

You could imagine the surprise when we entered a hospital.

It was really far from the airport. We enter the hospital lobby and the girl said something to the guy at front. She then gestured me to enter the elevator with her. Here we go, the inevitable awkward moment...

For thirty seconds we faced each other, arms crossed, not a single word muttered. Only the rhythmic humming of the ride accompanied the silence. Geez this elevator is sure slow.

And finally came the anticipated mechanical sound of "Ding!" I swear I saw a bright ray of light when the doors opened. And then it faded to reveal the dim green colors that was grimly painted on a whim on the hallway walls. My eyes shot a look at the girl, demanding to know what happens next. She gazed back nonchalantly and walked out. I followed, having really no other choice.

She stopped at a room and looked through the see-through glass. After taking in a deep breath the girl turned the doorknob and went inside.

I leaned my head in to look at the room. It's what you can expect out of a patient's room, really. A plenty of white everywhere, illuminated by a single slight shade of gold from the light bulb above. There were two beds, but only the one near the window was occupied. My guide was quietly speaking to a patient there.

The patient, who was another girl, had long, silky blonde hair. She was wearing one of those striped blue hospital gowns, sitting upright on her bed. She was also caucasian.

Wait, is she the Yakuza princess? Why is she at a hospital, and why is she... _white_?

When the blonde girl saw me, she expressed mild surprise, then looked over at my escort and proceeded to what I think scold at her. After that the girl's attention was turned to me and caught me off guard.

"Hello, why don't you come in?" Of course, she _is_ white after all. I was just a little sensitive to the sudden English. It was like hearing someone say your name in another conversation. I'm impressed though, as a fellow cracker, her articulation was perfect.

"Uh hey." I walked into the room and closed the door behind me.

"My name is Wendy. Wendy Hearn. Why don't you take a seat?" She pointed at a chair nearby.

I nodded in appreciation and sat near her bed, though I still had no idea what was going on. Who are they? Are they not Yakuza after all?

We looked at each other for a moment before I realized I was supposed to do my part on the introductions. "Oh. I'm uh, Miles. Miles Franson."

The girl, Wendy, giggled. I don't know why, but she greatly reminded me of someone.

"I apologize on the behalf of Sumireko, you must be so confused right now."

Sumireko must be the brown haired guide. She tensed a little at hearing her name spoken in English. See what I mean?

"It's fine, I followed her willingly. She...she has some sort of ability, right?"

Wendy looked over at her friend and gave her another scoldful look. Sumireko shrugged, probably not having any clue on what we were talking about.

"Yep, she is. She's an esper." Wendy explained. "She could lift and move objects with her mind. She could also levitate a little." ESP, or extrasensory perception. Basically, telekinesis and mind reading. Esper? She's a psychic like Joe Powers. Apparently it's real all along. "Ah, but she can't read people's minds." Good.

"What about you?" I asked her. "Are you an esper too?"

"I am..." she looked at her hands "well, at least I think I am. Ever since I was young I heard voices nobody else can hear, and I would have strange, ominous dreams too..." Her voice trailed off, seemly downcast by the personal subject.

"Sorry to hear that. I have a special thing too."

"Yeah, I know, you could kill people by making them read anything you write, right?"

Right. How come she knew about that? I never told anyone of this.

Wendy told me that one of her dreams recently had revealed of someone in America, someone who was similar to her and left bodies wherever he went. When she woke up, all she remember was my name and my location.

"Is that so...Oh yeah, are you the..."

"The Yakuza daughter?" Wendy smiled, then shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not such a prestigious person. Thank you for coming here though. I really mean it."

"So you...wait, you're not her? Where is she then? Are you with the Yakuza?"

She shook her head again. "We're not the Yakuza. The daughter was my friend, and she merely listened to a selfish request of mine."

It turned out the whole thing was a ruse. Well, partially. The Yakuza was never involved. It was Wendy who wanted to read my story. The Yakuza was merely a name they used to tempt me to come here.

"So who was this 'Kourin' then? The guy who sent me the undeletable mail?"

"I don't know him personally, but he came to me one day and typed up the email." Her brown, glossy eyes was intrigued. She studied me thoroughly, in a polite fashion. Is that even possible? "Sorry, I just couldn't believe you actually came."

Well, I suppose anyone else would have gotten mad by now. This suspicious girl tricked me to come over for no good reason. But I didn't. I just couldn't get mad at her. She greatly reminded me of the mother I never had.

"It's fine, I had my own reasons for coming here." To tour around Japan, for example. "By the way...what are you doing in a hospital? Are you all right?"

Wendy blinked once, then looked outside the window, where few tall skyscrapers lit up brightly in the night. Her friend Sumireko shifted uncomfortably from having to listen to the foreign conversation.

For this girl who I just met minutes ago, somewhere inside of me feared that she might be a cancer victim. Actually I suppose you don't even have to know someone to be scared for them. I really hoped she was okay.

To my relief, she didn't have cancer. Not physically anyways. She had cancer for the mind.

The dreams, the voices inside her head, they were driving her crazy. She would wake up in the middle of the night, terrified from whatever vision she had just witnessed. They would show her gruesome, disturbing things. It was extremely exhausting and stressful for her. She had dropped her weight to a dangerous level over the years and lacked a basic constitution.

I felt pity for this girl. She had an ability, an abnormality that normal people dreamed of having, but it wasn't beneficial at all. Her despairingly self-ruinous "power" only worked to rot herself from the inside. Because of this, her family overseas considered her a burden, and they dumped her here in Japan, leaving her to be stranded in a strange place.

But she didn't need any pity. Her life changed when she met Sumireko, who, like her, was different from everybody else. The two quickly became best friends and over time healed each others' scars from being so different in this society.

I played a role in their relationship today.

Recently Wendy's visions grew stronger. They were so bad that she was confined to the hospital, where many therapists and psychologists monitored her regularly. We're here during their break.

I'm just here to end her suffering.

When she dreamed of someone who was aimless in life, who was broken from his own differences, Wendy knew her time had come. With the cryptic info left behind from her dream and the resourceful Yakuza friend, I was tracked down to my little dorm in America.

She sought for an easy way out. Suicide wasn't an option, as she was too weak to do so physically. She needed somebody to do the honors. It didn't have to be horror, I'll just have to write up any book for her to read. And then, she will be finally at peace.

I consented the mail. I consented coming to Japan. I consented riding the plane. I consented to create that journal. I consented using said journal to _kill someone cold-bloodedly_.

There is no way I will consent to Wendy's selfish request.

"...Hm," After she explained her situation I simply looked at her, then to her esper friend who stood by watching "Does Sumireko know about this?"

She shook her head. "She was a little concerned about all this activity with the Yakuza lately, but she doesn't have a clue. For all she could know, you are probably a relative of mine."

According to Wendy, Sumireko was wandering around the airport when she saw me. One thing after another I was lead here.

She didn't told her about the hobo.

I have to give credit for my Japanese guide, if she told Wendy of this surely it would just made things more complicated.

Still, this girl here is a different case. Unlike my previous victims, Wendy was giving up her own life, just asking to die.

"Why throw your life away like this? Think of your friend. Do you know how Sumireko will feel if you die?"

Sumireko was a little shaken at hearing her name spoken from my voice, which was considerably louder than before.

"Miles..." Wendy's lethargic face was surprised, but there was a certain glint of stubborn determination in her eyes. I couldn't look away from them. "It's for her sake. I can't be just a burden to everyone..."

Her stubbornness annoyed me. I saw images of her death, lying on this bed with blood pouring out of her eyes. If she reads anything, like that homeless man, the amount of pain she will suffer in death will only exceed of those in life. Ms. Jener, the hobo, and all those other people...they didn't have a choice. It was I who decided their fate. And I am completely responsible for Bill's too, it was my fault that I did not dispose of that scrappy, shitty piece of paper. Wendy had a choice. She had plenty. But she chose the worst one out there.

True, I didn't live with her horrid visions and voices, but surely there must be a way other than giving up completely.

"Why me, out of all people? Why not get someone from the Yakuza to do it?"

"I don't know..." she looked out to the window again "Maybe it was the dream...I could feel it. You are special. You are...destined for something greater, probably. I'm sorry to have you to do this, but it's better now to leave than later." The sickly girl gazed at her friend and gave her a melancholic smile. Sumireko was a little confused, but she nodded anyways.

I sat back down, frustrated at the outcome of this situation. It wasn't often that I lost my composure, but after witnessing the grotesque death of that homeless man, this was too much. Wendy made things worse.

The three of us said nothing to each other for a little while.

I realized I need a little time to think things over, so I excused myself out of the room and went outside the hospital.

Damn it, it's true I don't know how she feels. Her suffering everyday...what was it like? Perhaps it wasn't the pain she wanted to escape from, but the endless, helpless, and needless pity that everyone gave her. The insufferable chemical reactions of sadness, all channeled to this girl who was cursed with the cancerous attribute. She had many flowers and gifts laid by the small table next to her bed, but even I could tell they meant nothing to her.

It was cold. The night in Kyoto harbored significantly more stars than back in the U.S.. It has been so long since I had seen them twinkling in the sky. Will I find my place among them one day...or join up with the condemned down there?

Then unpleasant vibration and the loud ringtone of my phone brought me back to reality. I thought there was no service here? The caller was the one who I wished to avoid the most ever since this trip: my dad. I sighed, cold frosts as my breath, and picked it up.

"Son?" his same old worrisome tone, probably gonna ask if I ate dinner today.

"Yeah I'm here."

"You all right? I heard you went out of the college."

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm...I'm just working on a project over a friend's house." Pretty sure my dad would have gotten his heart attack thirty years ahead of his age if I told him that the Yakuza made me fly over to Japan.

"Oh. Make sure to eat something good. Too much of those cup ramen and they will kill you faster than cigarettes." It may not sound like it, but he must have been happy to hear that I made new friends ever since Bill's demise. I didn't have the heart tell him that it wasn't true. "Well, just make sure to return when you're finished." When I notice that he was about to hung up, I remembered a little something I had in mind.

"Wait, Pops, hold on,"

"Yeah? I'm still here son."

"What did Mom get again? Carcinoma?"

"...Yeah, carcinoma. Why do you ask?"

"...It's nothing. I gotta go back on my project. See ya Pops."

"Okay, have fun." I ended the call right there.

My mother died when I was really young, so I don't remember much, but somehow, in a few mysterious ways, Wendy felt and looked like her. Which was weird, considering that I don't even remember how my own mom looked. My dad's photos only showed me an alien that I do not recognize. What's a person if you don't have any memories with them? A stranger, like the thousands I had passed by on streets and never met in life again.

After a fun experience of getting lost inside a huge hospital, I returned to Wendy's room and told her that I agree. That I will spend time in Japan to write a new book dedicated to her and her only. On hearing this she showed me a warm, genuine smile. She smiled at the fact that she was going to meet her doom for certain.

It was a lie, of course.

How did I not feel anything about killing people prior to today? I wavered a little when Bill kicked it, but still managed to kill the hobo remorselessly.

In the end no cops or detectives came after me. I later recall seeing on TV that there was a dead hobo in the airport. Everyone thought it was an accident and moved onto their daily, busy lives. That's right, much like Bill, no one gave a fly's crap about him. In the eyes of the public, there was just less garbage polluting the streets.

Ugh. I didn't catch his name but his sacrifice will not be forgotten. He was a good guy, and he had no clue on what was coming when the journal was opened. It was a late, very late, but on that day I vowed not to harm a single soul again.

As for the thing with Wendy, I planned to find a way to help her cope through the troublesome ability. If possible, a cure, but I hoped to change her mind about dying at the very least. Looks like my time in Japan isn't going to be what I expected it to be.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Brief Solace**

* * *

It's going to be hard to put up and maintain the lie. They will bound to discover it eventually, but not before I try my hardest on persuading Wendy out of her suicidal mindset.

All she did was to request me to write a book, not specifying the crucial details. Did it have to be properly typed, edited, and printed out by a publishing company? Or do I just simply hand write everything, sort of like a scrap book? If it was the former criteria, then it made things a little more complicated than it already is. Nobody ever read any of my own printed books, so I can't say for certain that she might die. But I can't just risk it, can I?

There was also the factor that it takes years to write a good book. _Few_ years if you're lucky. Not sure that the quality of my book will be great giving the supposedly little time. Now if J.R.R. Martin was here instead of me...

Well, if one thing went my way today, it was when Sumireko showed me her ESP at the airport. It was really damned fortunate that she didn't open up my bag zipper all the way back there. She would have saw the books I brought along, which then she'll probably show them to Wendy and the whole thing's gonna end right there. They don't know the existence of these books, so I'll have to keep my bag with me at all times. Kind of ironic, the reason why an author writes a book is so that they could show the story to others. Not me.

Wendy said she's gonna spill the beans to Sumireko right after I quote on quote agreed. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea but Sumireko didn't...react much. She only furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, trying to suppress the bursting, explosive emotions inside. She was trying to act tough, but being the real master of silencing emotions over here, she couldn't fool me.

So then Wendy told me that since I am going to be staying in Japan for a while, she will provide me a place to live and any other necessities. Apparently she came from a highly influential family overseas, and Sumireko was mad rich. They lived together at a pretty expensive penthouse somewhere nearby.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous on the way to the house. Imagine your daughter in middle school brought home some white foreigner who's in college and announced that he is going to live here so he could write a book.

I thanked both of them thoroughly for the hospitality they offered, and as soon as I was shown the guest room there as my place, I went to bed. Today was way more tiring that I thought it would be. Long ass flight, alone in a distant country, brutally murdered a homeless person, had to deal with an emotional existential crisis, requested to end the life of a traumatized thirteen-year old, _consented_ , and suspiciously officially living together with another girl who was way younger than me.

Yeah I'll leave the thinking tomorrow.

Not much sleep was had. The image of the hobo's face burned into my mind's eye. I tossed and turned for hours, eventually and miraculously knocked myself out when my body couldn't handle the burden placed on it...

When I woke up the next day I realized the more immediate problem of communication is going to be a bitch. Sumireko was lazing around the living room (which was huge as fuck), watching some morning TV. She yawned when seeing me and casually gestured to the almost equally fuckhuge kitchen. Wait, does she expect me to cook breakfast?

This announcement was brought by your truly who was ordered around by someone on the other side of the planet: I can't cook for shit. Because of her being Japanese and I being a filthy American, I was unable to file my complaint. Body language wasn't much useful, either. C'mon, can't she call for deliveries or something?

When Sumireko finally realized what I was trying to say, head frantically shaking and hands crossed to form a "X", the girl sighed and got up. With her ESP powers she tapped the little red button on the TV remote, which was several feet away, and closed the TV. Wow, must be a godsend for the couch sloths around the world. The girl then went to the fridge and took out some leftover miso soup. Because of my inability to summon the gods of the culinary arts I was left out, forced to live off a glass of water as my morning nutritional intake. Geez, this girl's got some attitude. What happened to that seemly likable personality from yesterday?

It wasn't almost halfway through the day that I noticed Sumireko was still at home, lying on the couch and catching up on weekly manga. Today was a Thursday. Doesn't she have school? I heard Japan takes the education of their children seriously.

My common sense and the few recovered fragments of my human sentiment informed me that she might have been excused from school to be with Wendy. Ah, that may explain the little bitch earlier. The wonders of an emotionally unstable girl in puberty. She was probably mentally exhausted and cranky and angsty when Wendy told her of the big glorious death plan yesterday. So because of that, I left the girl be and went into my room to "work on my story". I wonder if she hates me for being the future killer of her best friend.

For the entire afternoon I tried connecting my laptop to one of the Japanese Wi-Fi here. No such luck. Gonna have to be in a Starbucks or something for free internet. I had seen tutorials on how to set up VPNs ages ago, and now I deeply regret on not looking more into them.

Some time later the doorbell of the house rang. I clenched my natural waste ejector located in between my cheeks, thinking that her parents finally come home. Oh god, they're in for a surprise, and that surprise is going to be in the form of a white guy living with their daughter.

Turns out it was just pizza.

I was surprised that a Japanese girl like her even ate the thing. I'm not complaining, mind you, but I thought the only Western food they ate here was McDonald's. Years of racial stereotypes at home plus the tales of everyone being xenophobic tried to prepared me for this day. And they really didn't.

The pizza was good, as it should be, but it tasted different. They probably had different ways of making it here.

We spoke nothing to each other during the feasting. Aside from the obvious language barrier here, don't Asian families always eat silently during dinner? Another culture shock for Mr. White Guy. When I was still living back home my dad would rant endlessly about the supposedly shitty day he had.

Well, the silence didn't really stop us from staring at each other while eating. From quick glances to full out analysis we studied the young Japanese girl/white American guy sitting across the dinner table. Know your housemate/enemy. It was awkward, sure, but I'm not embarrassed to say that it helped to make us bond a little. You sometimes just feel it when spending quality time with someone...if this was actually worth being called "quality".

How does she feel right now, knowing that the guy sitting in front of her gnawing at the pizza crust is going to kill her friend? I don't know, but those quiet and judgmental meal times are going to be a common thing from now on. And I could live with it. Spares me from discussing the touchy subject that is Wendy.

Which reminds me, what does Wendy even do, staying in that hospital everyday? I don't suppose she could stare outside of that window forever. Part of me thinks that the ever present boredom in life, not just the room, was a factor motivated her wishing for the end. Hmm, if Wendy really did know of my abilities, she could have simply asked me to write up a short paragraph. It's the approximate minimum amount of the words required to work their magic. A book is just overkill, and she wanted me to write up a completely new one. Does she want me to have _fun_ while doing it? Is she hiding a savage, traditionalist warrior underneath that motherly demeanor, who yearned for a suitable death?

Is she trying to buy time for something?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Boundary**

* * *

We spent two days nothing nothing in the house before visiting Wendy again. Luckily I had some games downloaded inside of my laptop, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do without the internet! Boohoo! Kids these days. At least Sumireko kept herself busy somehow.

I was wasting in the living room, watching midday reruns of some anime (I'll admit, watching it here in Japan makes it several degrees more interesting), when my housemate suddenly stood in front of my vision, blocking the scene.

" _Wendy_." She said. Oh, so she is known as Wendy in Japanese. I was wondering if perhaps she went by a different alias.

At first I was a little confused on what she meant. You're blocking the fight scene, damn it, but my all-reliable conscious told me that we're going to visit the hospital. The girls probably wanted to hear my story's progress, one of them eagerly and one of them despairingly.

The walking distance was a, ahem, _mile_ away, so it was a little long. We stopped several times on the way, mostly with Sumireko buying little snacks to eat. After my best attempt on creating the fabled puppy eyes, the girl sighed and bought me the taiyaki she's had. Heh, even stuck-up like her can't resist my charms. The taiyaki-which was the fish shaped cake with bean pastes you see a lot in anime-was great. It was authentic after all. The red beans melted in my mouth. I begged her (silently) to buy another for Wendy, but she shook her head, tenacious on not spending any more of her wallet. Well excuse _me_ , Ms. Stingy-Even-Though-I'm-Rich-As-Hell.

After some fifteen more minutes of walking we finally arrive at the hospital. When facing the building, Sumireko's previously somewhat sulky demeanor was replaced by a crestfallen frown. I did the same. Do we have to comply to this grim feeling every time we come here?

When we arrived, Wendy was taking a nap. Her eyes closed, a tranquil expression to cover up the otherwise unpleasant happenings inside of her mind. We quietly closed the door and sat near her, trying to not disturb the precious girl who's gonna die sooner or later. I expected Sumireko to take out her phone and text or something, but surprisingly she didn't. She just sat there, staring at Wendy's peaceful sleeping face.

The room was even whiter now that we visited at a day. I felt a little awkward looking at the two of them, so having nothing to do I unzipped my bag (as little as possible) and took out my deck of UNO cards, proceeding to shuffle them quietly to kill time. When Sumireko noticed the cards, she fixes her glasses and said:

" _UNO?_ "

I nod, surprised that she knew about them but remembered that it's a thing in Japan. My deck was pretty special after all. It's a limited Marvel vs. DC deck, with characters from perspective worlds pictured onto the cards. The deck was won as a prize from my middle school UNO competition, which consisted of maybe around five to six people.

 _Hey_ , I thought to myself, _maybe she knew how to play_. I lifted the deck to her, hoping that she would get my intention. She nods once, and from there we began to play on Wendy's bed, careful on not touching her.

Oh wow.

I thought Sumireko would use her ESP powers to cheat or something, but it turns out she sucked at UNO. She either had the worst luck in here, or I had the better. Probably the latter. After several rounds she sighed quietly in frustration. Who could blame her? She was facing a formidable foe who's undefeated for years.

She pointed at the deck and gestured shuffling motions with her hands. I let her, knowing well that no matter what she does she could never beat the champion. Sumireko lifted the cards to the air and shuffled them with her tekekinesis. If she's gonna cheat, then so be it. It might give her the handicap she need.

Just as we were about to begin her redeeming round, Wendy woke up. She opened her eyes and was mildly surprised at us playing UNO on her bed,

"Go ahead, I'll watch." She smiled. Sumireko and I looked at each other, getting a little fired up from her spectating. Here we go.

Well, I'll admit, she's gotten better, but in the end you still cannot beat the man. I'm on fire. This would make my...twenty-something win since Bill's death.

Sumireko leaned back on her chair and sighed again. Wendy giggled. She said something to her in Japanese.

"Do you want to try?" I asked, getting carried away by the momentum.

"Oh I haven't played UNO in years," Wendy said "but I'll give it a try. Looks fun."

Good. More offering for the UNO Lord. Perhaps one day I will go easy on you mortals.

...

Fuck. Wendy was surprisingly good at this game.

"UNO!" she said, ending the game and starting my tilt. "Whew, I hope I didn't screw up."

You didn't. Holy shit she is an esper after all. I swear she knew exactly what cards I had. The countless +4 asspulls only added insult to the injury.

"Huh..." I stared at the girl "Well I'll be damned. Congratulations," my hand extended towards her "you have defeated the numero UNO." She shook it weakly, simpering.

"Well well, do I inherit your title now?"

"No," I said, shuffling the deck with extreme speed and precision, my eyes almost burning with spirit "you will have to defeat me again!" Interesting. I had underestimated this human. But beware now, soon you will regret on awakening the beast, sealed away with its unfathomable powers...

"UNO!" Wendy Hearn declared my eighth defeat.

Never before in the history of man there was a bigger ass ravaging.

"This can't be..." I clenched my chest "How could you have bested me?"

"Because I have the power of friendship!" Wendy snickered and hugged Sumireko, who was confused and surprised at the same time. She had just witnessed the grand defeat of the UNOverlord.

While I was in disbelief over my loss though, Wendy's having a good time. She told us to play threes together, and we did. Of course it ended with her yelling out UNO first, but at least I finished before Sumireko, who had enough of her consecutive defeat and started to rant something to me in Japanese. I looked over to Wendy for translation, but all she did was laugh. Somehow, the tense, gloomy mood we had earlier was gone, replaced by a merry and cheerful moment where everyone's having fun. Okay, I lost, but still. Seeing the two girls like that made me feeling all warm and fuzzy.

We played for several more rounds before Wendy said she was tired and wanted to take a nap again. Sumireko looked at me, most likely thinking the same thing. It's already time to leave, huh.

"Miles..." the girl in bed said as I stood up and grabbed my bag "How are you doing with the book?"

I tried my darnest to smile. "I have an idea on what to write, but still gotta do the outline and all that. It's gonna take a while."

She nodded, seemed to believe my lie.

"I understand. It must be tough to come up with something so suddenly. Sorry..."

"Don't sweat it. I'll have it ready for you soon. I promise."

Wendy smiled again weakly. She sure smiled a lot for someone who's deeply tormented. Sumireko walked to the door and looked back, waiting. "Just ask anything you want once you're done."

"Wendy..." I frowned, walking to her bed. "I'm not doing this for the money..."

"Okay," A sad smile. "I just wanted to thank you. It wasn't a lot, but I haven't had this much fun in a long time."

"...Yeah, no problem. You're the best UNO player I've ever faced. I'll train hard and pay you back some day."

The sad girl gave me another of her fragile, melancholic smiles. She lied down on her pillow and closed her eyes, perhaps wandering into a distant land of unspeakable horror. I remained there for several moments, deeply troubled. Maybe it was the right thing to do, writing that book for her. Confined to a hospital like this by day, tortured by her dreams by night. No one deserves to live that kind of life.

The girl who's waiting for me by the door whistled quietly to get my attention, hasty to leave for her friend. She didn't seem to have many other friends besides Wendy, much like myself with Bill. No doubt that she is going to be very lonely when Wendy dies. The two of them were like two peas in a pod. It's difficult to imagine her without the presence of Wendy in her life.

Deeply unsatisfied, I shook my head and left the hospital. What should I do? What _could_ I do? To end Wendy's misery, or prevent Sumireko's?

I knew well myself that there isn't a gray, a middle solution that solved both problems, because this is reality. But I sure as hell wished there was. Eventually, a decision must be made. But it doesn't matter. Both endings will be bad endings. And it all stemmed from my cursed power, my pride, my writing. I felt the need to punch a wall.

On our way back Sumireko sniffled a little, but when I looked at her she showed me a casual grin, as if there wasn't anything wrong. When we got home, she immediately excused herself to her room, and for the rest of the day faint, drowned cries echoed around the house and my heart.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - A Meeting**

* * *

It was another day in Gensokyo, and it was another day for Takeyoshi, son of the human village's chief. He casually strolled through the streets and greeted the passerbys. A busy-turned-lazy day for him, but not so much for the bustling village.

A yawn slipped out of the young man. Since he was done for the day, the successor to-be of his father sought for a way to kill time. Despite his prestigious heritage, Takeyoshi had helped out around the town ever since he was little, interacting and socializing with the common people. Takeyoshi never wanted to be a simple good for nothing, merely borrowing his father's fame as "the son of the village chief".

Because of his tireless work for the common folk, Takeyoshi was deeply respected in return. Add in his natural, amiable charisma, the guy was magnetively popular.

"Hey Takeyoshi~!" A girl of his age called out when seeing him across the street. He waved back, showing her one of his trademark handsome smiles. The girl quickly blushed and ran away, leaving a few people laughing wholeheartedly. Everyone knew the girls here liked him, but they also knew that Takeyoshi had his sights on someone else. That doesn't mean he hates teasing the damsels here, however, and the person who he favored would scold him for the mild, lecherous, display.

Feeling hungry, Takeyoshi went to a local favorite, the taiyaki stand. The old lady there smiled when seeing him.

"There there," she took out a fresh taiyaki and handed it to him, free of charge. "A little snack for your afternoon, Take."

"Ah no, I can't..." He fished around the inside of his green yukata, which was expensively tailored. When realizing he carried no money, Takeyoshi reluctantly accepted the food, bowing in gratitude. "Sorry, I'll pay you back tomorrow."

The old lady smiled and shook her head, leaving Takeyoshi a little flustered. He bid farewells and continued his aimless walk, chewing on the delicious if not hot fish cake.

Another day for the human village, where everyone made their livings by honest work. The ambient commotion of the marketplace filled him with an inner peacefulness that was reserved for someone of his position. The steady, stagnant way of life everyone lived, the busy, yet carefree routines the humble villagers lead to, it all contributed to the satisfaction that he felt. Deeply tied with the citizens, he carried a burden, being the next in line of his father. But that burden made him feel alive. With every deceased villager he shed tears as if they were his own family, with each newborn infant a surge of hopefulness enveloped him to carry on for a better future. Because of him being so popular with the people, Takeyoshi's father, Hachirou, felt that he will be a leader greater than himself, leading the human village to a brighter tomorrow in this god forsaken land.

Takeyoshi would have enjoyed this moment thoroughly, chewing on the delicious taiyaki, if it weren't for the little distraction above him. The shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei, flying laps around the village like nobody's business.

In a way, it was her business. Ever since receiving the enormous amount of donations a few days ago, Reimu was fired up on honoring her shrine maiden duties. The few dictated commandants passed down from her predecessors were simple and clear: protect the humans, maintain the Barrier, and collect donations. Because of the overly generous amount of the money dumped at the shrine, she was overjoyed when the final criteria, daunting and beyond her powers, finally showed itself.

The son of the village chief waved at her. She stopped flying for a moment and looked around the land with an eagle eyed view, not noticing her benefactor below.

Takeyoshi sighed silently. It's good that she's really into it, and the people felt secure as ever, but eventually, given her lazy and rather arbitrary attitude, Reimu will soon get tired of this and everything will go back to the way it was. He wagers that Reimu will last for perhaps a week before finally saying "Fuck it, I'm bored."

It wasn't exactly his idea to give her the money. Well, he had pressured his father to pay homage at the shrine ages ago, to reward the shrine maiden and show her how faithful the people still are, but Hachirou never complied. It was rather strange and sudden for him to ask Takeyoshi to deliver the large money bag a few days ago, saying that he felt the time had come.

Ever since then, Takeyoshi never saw his father, thinking that he must be on another trip around Gensokyo to do one of those secret jobs he never talks about. It had been a regular routine from his childhood. One day Hachirou would just disappear, then return days later as if nothing happened.

 _What I wouldn't give to learn what he has been doing..._ Takeyoshi finished the last bit of the taiyaki and watched the shrine maiden fly out of his view. Further down the street he spot the all familiar building of his beloved teacher. It was decided that visiting there would be a nice way to spend the evening.

"Bye bye, Keine-sensei!" The children who were attending the schoolhouse waved goodbye to their teacher.

"Take care!" Keine Kamishirasawa, history teacher, returned the farewells. When seeing the kids dashing the down the street, an exclusive smile that a teacher reserved for her students displayed across her face.

Keine went back inside the modest sized schoolhouse, which was not much different from the other buildings in the human village. Gabled, ridged roofs with a dark green color and the rectangular body structure, it was fairly easy to miss the building if one's not familiar with the it. Takeyoshi, however, will never make such a mistake, as this place held the fond memories of him being a student here.

 _Heh_ _,_ he mused to himself, _she's probably gonna tell me go shave properly._

Just as he was about to enter the building, ripen with nostalgia, a chilling voice from behind halted him.

"You seem free, as usual."

A portal opened up in space horizontally like an eye. A "gap" was the proper name of this particular kind of portal. Inside of the gap was an endless purple void, with individual human eyes drifting freely, threatening to stare into the soul of anyone who dared to look. A tall, slender woman, caucasian in feature, climbed out of the said gap and leaned her long, purple dress against it as if it was the ledge of a window. She had violet eyes, almost identical to the vacuuming hue of her gap, and her long, silky blonde locks deemed her as a foreigner to anyone in Gensokyo. But she was no foreigner, no, that is entirely false. She was a powerful being who had resided in Gensokyo for over a thousand years, before Gensokyo even called Gensokyo. This woman who casually leaned against the floating gap was named Yukari Yakumo, an eternal amusement seeker.

Takeyoshi scoffed at her rather inconvenient timing.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the village?" He said. "People are gonna see you."

"Oh nothing, I'm just bored."

"...I can see that, but surely you must bother the son of the village chief for good reason." It wasn't exactly true, as Takeyoshi had experienced firsthand during his childhood. He must be some kind of blessed prodigy, because it was him, out of all people, that was bothered by Yukari nonstop for years.

"Well now," she smirked "the absence of your father is intriguing, I'd say. Tell me, where has he gone off to?"

"I dunno," Takeyoshi shrugged "he never tells me me anything. Why do you ask? Trying hit on my old man?"

Yukari snorted a surprised laugh. "Him? That grumpy brat? Don't think I'm some sort of desperate wench, Take."

 _You sure look like one,_ Takeyoshi thought. _Way out of your marrying age._

Still, his father's absence bothered him. If not even someone like Yukari, who was basically omnipresent in Gensokyo, had clue of his father's whereabouts, then something must be amiss. He had tried to personally investigate before, but absolutely no progress was made. It was as if his father had disappeared altogether for some secret business trip.

"Well, you've asked me this like a million times before," Takeyoshi said "and the answer will always be the same. I was never informed of his activities."

"Is that so..." Yukari took out a closed purple paper fan and pointed it to her lips. "It's natural for fathers to share a conspiracy with their son, after all."

"Conspiracy? You think he's trying to kick out the youkai from Gensokyo or something? My father may be a little stubborn, but I don't think he's _that_ dumb."

"Well, you never know." Having heard his answer, Yukari figured her interest in the conversation was depleted, so her gap enlarges and slowly began to swallow its master. Seeing her about to leave, Takeyoshi suddenly remembered the strange task his father told him to do a month ago.

"Wait, before you go, what happened to that human from the outside?"

Hearing this, the gap youkai stopped, her back turned to him. "You mean that guy you wanted me to bring over? Mario? Ma Su? Whatever his name is?"

"Yeah, is he here yet? Pretty sure my father wants to see him."

Yukari opened her fan and covered her mouth, eyes looking at elsewhere. "...He's in Japan, but you'll have to wait longer."

Takeyoshi raised one eyebrow in response. She could be lying, but what could he do about it? He had no idea why his father asked him to tell Yukari to drag this poor human into Gensokyo. That, along with the sudden donation to the Hakurei shrine and another one of his disappearances, the young man can't help but feel something is seriously fishy.

"Oh well, make sure to not let anyone see you, else I'll have to calm down the village again. That wasn't so fun." Takeyoshi turned and entered the school building, aiming to greet his teacher and catch up with the olden times. The gap youkai remained behind for a while, silently staring at the sky with her fan perched to her lips.

"Hm...she's interfering with me, isn't she..." Yukari Yakumo wondered out loud. After a brief moment of contemplation, she vanished without a trace.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Fear**

* * *

My uncertainty only escalated when the hospital called us. I was eating takeouts with Sumireko, wondering where the hell her parents were during the past week, when her cell phone rang. When she picked it up, her face turned pale and dropped her chopsticks. Seeing her like that made me pale as well. Sumireko quickly put on a coat and dashed out the penthouse, ringing for the elevator. I hastily followed, swallowing a lump down my throat. It couldn't be, right? Please let my speculations be wrong.

Fortunately it was, but the sight made me hope for otherwise.

We took a velvet service and arrived at the hospital in less than fifteen minutes. When we got up to the room, there was a mass of nurses and therapists, trying to calm down a frantic Wendy within the best of their abilities. She was having another one of her panic attacks. Wendy screamed and pleaded for whatever she's seeing to stop. Her eyes were sagged, and she twitched on her bed uncontrollably.

Sumireko quickly went over to Wendy and hugged her, saying something in Japanese to which I take for " _It's okay_ ". The girl in agony ceased her movements, but still had hand over ears to block out the madness disembodied voices were spewing. Tears streamed down her face, the poor girl sobbed without end. Dear god...she looked like she was in hell.

Was it my responsibility to put her out of the misery?

Seeing her like this made me reflect on my resolve a week ago. On how I was determined to find a way to help without writing the book. How foolish, how naive I was. It was just running away, trying to find a perfect, unrealistic resolution. Whilst Sumireko comforted Wendy, I stepped out of the room and felt a need for a cigarette. I don't smoke, but the reason why some people needed them at moments like this came clear to me.

Because we ran out in a rush, my bag was left behind at the apartment. Should it be with me right now, I would have probably done the unthinkable. I would have grabbed a book and shove it into Wendy's face, desperately on trying ending her suffering. Perhaps the real question is that why don't I object to that idea...

Some equally torturing amount of waiting later, Wendy composed herself and calmed down...for the time being. There is no telling when will it strike again, and if it will be stronger that before.

After signing and filling in an annoying amount of paper works Sumireko ushered the doctors out, leaving the three of us alone for the time being. I could hear Wendy's weak, irregular breathing. I could hear Sumireko's normal, yet anguished heartbeats. I could hear my own conscious screaming at my doubts, which threatened to destroy everything if I don't reach a decision.

The three of us said nothing to each other, but we all felt the weight of the atmosphere. Sumireko got up and sat next to her bed. Then he leaned onto Wendy's lap, who in return placed a hand onto her dear friend.

"Miles..." my potential victim croaked, her voice faltering.

I walked over to them.

"Miles...please..." her tired eyes looked up to me. They retained that glint of stubbornness from that time, but still heavily overshadowed by her stress. "A horror story. Make it as scary as possible. As gruesome as it will be..."

"But why..."

She tried to smile. "Nothing will faze me, so please...I'm sorry if you already have something. I need it to be insane, I need it to be able to change someone's mindset completely. I need it to scar someone for the rest of their lives."

She was saying strange things, but I took it by heart. Damn it...if she wants a horror story, _FINE_. I'll write up the scariest novel known to man. H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, they all got no shit on me. I'll show it to her...I'll make she feel so horrified, so afraid of my imagination that she will be glad to feel alive.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - A Silent Sinner**

* * *

It had occurred to me that writing was no longer enjoyable to me. I mean I still do, in the normal way a writer would feel during "the zone", but after typing up a page I realized writing no longer worked the way it did for me before. It didn't act as my way of stress relief anymore. No matter how much was written, my penmanship had lost the ability to calm me down, forgetting the troubles of reality, in a way drugs did.

Japan was probably my rehab.

It's a mystery on whether or not that's a good thing, but it's irrelevant, really. All of it.

The next few days were spent brainstorming for ideas. I watched enough horror movies with Sumireko that we both became too disturbed to use the bathroom at nights. It wasn't enough though. Many inspirations were had, and none of them proved to be worthy for Wendy Hearn, local Eldritch abominations expert.

And my internet was still down. If I had access to it then my research would have been considerably easier. Anything could be easily looked up, given the web that which entangled the world had a shitload of information. When Sumireko was summoned to help on connecting to the Japanese Wi-Fi, all she did was fiddling with the network security key, probably forgotten the password. Looks like the internet is a no-go here. Fuck, should have bought those Stephen King books when I had the chance.

It would also help greatly if I spoke Japanese. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Japan had a thing for urban legends, and they mostly focused on horror and cautionary tales to spook the kids. All those juicy legends and rumors could have served as part of my writing too, but nope, not all Americans are well versed in multiple languages, despite living in a diverse country.

What about that Necronomincon thing, then? Can't I pass that shit as horror and hand it to Wendy? Hell no, I've been trying to forget about that and the hobo and the progress so far is good. Besides, she wishes to die, but probably not in that way.

Anyways, _it_ happened.

It was during the middle of the night. Having (mostly) conquered my fear with the supernatural, I took nice thirty-minute shower in one of the big ass bathrooms. When I stepped out and headed for my room, Sumireko was there, fidgeting around my door. The girl carried a tinge of guilt on her face. Wish I could ask what was she doing, but, well, you know. She yelped a little when seeing me, and after a seemly apologizing bow Sumireko hurriedly left and...went outside the house. Must be visiting Wendy again, but at twelve in the morning?

A little note on her ESP powers: after living with Sumireko Usami for a couple weeks, I am qualified to say that her powers wasn't as impressive as I once thought it would be. Sure, she could move objects with her mind, but they appear to be no heavier than a small chair. The girl could also levitate, according to Wendy, but I never saw her do that. Most of the time when she freely displayed her powers in front of me was to perform menial chores, such as tossing trash across the living room or closing the windows.

But hey, at least it's handy. Meanwhile I'm stuck with my stupid ability. What's the fuck is the point to it? Sometimes I wonder if my skills as a writer actually stemmed from it as a side effect. Without this uniquely fucked up power, I may have just been another nobody. It's do all or dick-all.

The next day, Sumireko was in the living room, watching TV, lying on the couch like a shut-in, the same old routine. She didn't utter a word about what happened yesterday, but I suppose she literally couldn't.

Déjà vu, but it wasn't until in the afternoon when I thought something was wrong with her. When I tried to get her attention on something, she either ignored me or avoided me altogether. When we met in the big ass hallways she would turn the other way. It was as if she didn't want to see me, like I did something wrong.

Which never happened. I was perfectly tame ever since witnessing Wendy's shock, concentrating on my current horror debut. Still, she kept on evading me for some reason. We don't talk to begin with, but it felt that we became even more distant.

...Did I piss her off by accident or something? Seriously, what happened? Was it something from that visit with Wendy? Was it from asking her help with the internet?

It went on for a couple days before she dropped the rather hostile act. She came into my room and gestured me to clean the toilet. While I rather grudgingly scrubbed the pot she went out, probably to ditch me and have some fun alone. Well, at least she's over with...whatever the fuck was on her mind. Puberty, eh. She was probably on her period for the past few days. By then the whole thing went over my head, and it was promptly forgotten.

Biggest mistake of my life.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - The Border of Life and Death**

* * *

Sumireko's penthouse had a fireplace. Despite having heat in the house, that little cave with a pile of burning wood was quite soothing to sit near, and it quickly became my favorite place here. It's was so...genuine. When you see so much of something on TV, seeing it up close enhances the experience greatly. Or it'll disappoint, depending on your expectations. I was fascinated though.

It was just a normal day. After scrapping another draft I plopped myself in front of the fireplace, drawn by the energetic combination of oxygen and various other substances. If you're imaginative, then staring at this thing will make you think even more. The cackling, sizzling and popping sound pleasantly rang around my ear as I sat there cross legged, taking in some distant and unrelated symbolism this thing represented to me. A warm and cozy evening to spend the last days of winter.

And then a phone rang. Sumireko was out in the balcony when her cell phone picked up a call. She got back in and answered it. A grim frown emerged on her face, and she got dressed lightly before heading out. Damn, did Wendy receive another panic attack? I don't know what I'll say to her, having made little to no progress here, but there was no choice. I have to go. A great mood killer, don't you think?

When we got there, it had the scene from last time: a hurdle of doctors, as nervous as Wendy was, huddled around the bed. Some of them are yelling in Japanese. It would fully repair my recollection of the picture of what was here the last time if only one particularly important piece wasn't missing. Wendy wasn't screaming or crying. She was awfully quiet, lying on that bed over there.

Wendy Hearn had died.

It wasn't clear when she did, and the doctors were frantic on figuring out how she did. Understanding them in context if not content, I speculate that they thought it was perhaps some kind of tumor grew, or maybe her mind strained itself too much or some bullshit like that.

But I understood. I understood how.

Her face, contrary to the old man at the airport, was undisturbed. It wasn't the same kind of peacefulness she had went we played UNO on her bed. She was undisturbed, finally set free from the endless amounts of agony and anguish she was burdened with. A true, final smile hung on her face. The girl beamed at her salvation during the last minutes of her miserable life.

When several of the doctors saw us, they rushed over to Sumireko for questions as they buried her with an enormous amount of paperwork, while several sympathetic nurses hugged her dearly. Next to Wendy's bed, the little table that was filled with gifts and flowers had something else there. It was a book, with an ugly, pictureless brown cover. One could pass it as a diary at plain sight. On it, a title was hastily written in black pen: _My Love for the Stained Glass of Yale_.

I slowly walked over to the table and picked up the book I had written. It was the last one where I had gotten to be "published", and it's first real reader was dead. Next to me, Wendy's spirit became more distant by the moment. To think she read this willingly, even though it was not a horror tale at all. And to think she trusted the deliverer of this book without a second thought...

Maybe I should have realized it sooner. She was poking around my room when I was taking the shower at that time, and must have sneaked out with a book she found inside my duffel bag. I wonder what was her reaction upon discovering them? The decision to bring the book must have resulted that little avoidance period, perhaps due to excessive guilt and/or maybe regret.

Somewhere, among the crowd of impatient doctors and nurses, Sumireko's eyes glanced onto the remains of Wendy Hearn. She wasn't sad, at least she didn't looked like she was. In those hazel colored windows to her soul, a subtle yet provoking glint of "duty" was there, conveying to me the message " _It had to be done._ " To an extent, she had indulged in her own madness to satisfy the painless death her best friend yearned for.

I sat down on the chair, familiar from my past few visits here. Where is the sadness that was much anticipated for her inevitable demise? Maybe, if I was my old, former self, everything would have been better. My eyes involuntarily shut themselves, drowning the chattering doctors and Sumireko's pathetic gaze. I'm tired, way too tired to deal with all this.

* * *

Many were there at Wendy's funeral. Mostly girls around her age, presumably her friends and classmates. There was also a girl with shades, two bodyguards at her side. I was the only foreigner there, and I seemed to be the center of their attention. It wasn't the typical presence of a white guy that had attracted them though. They all stared at me with deep contempt in their eyes. Aside from Sumireko, who was in front of the female crowd and facing Wendy's grandiose coffin, everyone here pierced me with their declarative glares. Their scorn and disdains for me made myself choke at the tense atmosphere. Did they find out the real cause of her death already?

Not one of them voiced their hate. It wasn't considered polite in their culture, I guess, but their eyes derided me nevertheless, that simply by being here I am violating Wendy Hearn's funeral.

What if my old self was here instead of me? He would have taken the job immediately and not care for Wendy's life. He would have done it nice and clean. Fuck. Knowing her just made it all worse.

That girl with shades then walked up to me, saying something in Japanese. She had a calm voice, but I could feel the seriousness her tone carried. When I made no response, she spoke to me again in fluent English.

"...You the one she spoke of? The one from America?"

I nod. In contrast she shook her head.

"Wendy's friends, they all here think you are her relative. They think you, as her family, are here to mock and disrespect the ceremony."

I remained silent. One of the girl's bodyguards whispered something to her. She turned around to the direction of the exit.

"...But don't worry about it. Sumireko and I know you tried your best. Among all of her friends here, only you two knew the real Wendy. Take pride to that." She left, hands in her pocket and gestured one of those goodbye waves from behind you see a lot in anime with characters walking down the sunset. But there was no sunset. All she did was to leave the white doors of the gloomy place.

I never saw her again, but she was pretty cool. Was she the Yakuza friend Wendy mentioned?

Sumireko turned around, hearing the door shut. She looked at me, perhaps asking where did the girl went. I don't know why, but I shrugged casually. She's right. Wendy's friends here can hate me all they want, but the fact that she was set free will never change. That last smile of hers was etched deep into my mind, wrestling its spot from the hobo's gruesome death.

Like a certain heroic Japanese biker boy, I could use my powers to become god or devil. People will rejuvenate or writhe in pain, depending how I use my powers. That lesson will never be learned if I stayed in America, wasting my days away by writing aimlessly. It was one of the few good decisions I've made in my life.

I looked up at the black and white framed picture that was hung on the side of the coffin. Wendy's face was on the photograph, taken from her still healthy days in school. On it, she had the same trademark smile I remember so clearly. This funeral was so not different than Bill's, really. Though many were here who shed tears, only few will truly remember the dead. Ignoring the stares of her friends, I shut my eyes yet again, silently lamenting the unfortunate fate of the girl who changed my life.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Changeability of a Hard Actuality**

* * *

A little while after the death of Wendy Hearn, my consciousness realized that I am in hell. No, I _belonged_ to hell, not only because of my cruelty, but also my devilish inner workings. No remorse was shed after a kill, no little angel avatar to persuade me otherwise. Add in that fact that there was almost no apparent sadness for Wendy's death, it was a probable guess that Miles Franson was actually an emotionless robot, whose sole purpose was programmed to write.

Sumireko tried hard on not to cry, but she was a different story. She had no time to be sad. Enormous amounts of paper works, contracts, and lease await for her to be signed. As she buried herself in the endless scraps of paper, her feelings responding to the death of a best friend was suppressed. Barely. There is only so much tears you could hold back when someone as influential as _her_ had died. Eventually, she finally lost it during the middle of the monotonous handiwork.

Goddammit Sumireko, why the hell did you do it?

Lying on my bed, I listened to the echoes of her cries through the thin walls. I knew that eventually they will find my books, but to have them be unearthed this soon?

On my laptop, each and every one of the drafts for Wendy's story was deleted, as they had become obsolete. Then, a new document was opened up and with nothing particular in mind, I began free writing, seeking to find solace from my hypothetical emotions.

It's no use. Writing had lost its magic for me, but it wasn't until I was truly depending on it to escape when I realized it. The words on my screen, they mean nothing to me now. With the blinking line next to the last word I typed, my eyes focused onto the blurry white screen, my consciousness drifting away from the harsh reality...My body slouched onto the mahogany table, suddenly feeling light, as if my own burdens were lifted away. What is this...?

Just as when I was about to faint, for perhaps forever, Sumireko came into my room, eyes a little red and still sniffling. Seeing me almost passed out and drooling in front of my laptop she angrily slapped my arm. As I slowly awake from my unpleasant nap, which felt like I was drifting into another world, the sight of Sumireko Usami's tired face made me think of the cruel reality again. Ugh...what happened? Felt like something was dragging my mind into another place..

Sumireko tugged my arm, with the same gentleness she had from the airport. Seeing her here reminded me of that little incident. The incident where she snooped around my room, stole a book, and killed Wendy on my behalf... It was possible that she have done it for my sake. That she doesn't want me to suffer the guilt of killing her alone.

I place a palm on my drowsy face. What was the conversation like, when she delivered the book to Wendy?

 _My Love for the Stained Glass of Yale_ was another heartwarming story about finding the true romantic love, a concept I had never experienced or practiced. It was on the other side of the spectrum, if Wendy had thought it to be menacing tale. Inspired by Bill's ex, I got this idea on an alternative world where she didn't dump him (with different character names of course). I tried to ease his broken heart the only way I could: writing down a story to make him envision what would happen if she stayed. It made things worse if anything, but Bill told me that it was a solid story (I read it to him) and said his friend will "publish" it for me. Writing it was a fun experience, but it did remind me of my own ex and my resolve on not to bother with women again.

Sometimes my books were like the children I will never have. And like a worried father, their future was a concern of mine. No one might take them in and read what they had to offer. All because of their single parent, stuck with a shitty tendency to murder indiscriminately. _My Love for the Stained Glass of Yale_ was one of them, but I never expected it to be the the last thing Wendy read.

The words of Wendy's Yakuza friend then came back to me.

" _Take pride to that._ " It echoed through my hallow mind, bouncing around the thin boundaries of my moral and reasoning. Take pride to what? I believed her words at that time, because it made me feel secure, secure from the fact that I didn't feel anything from Wendy's demise. A false sense of the mind's peace eluded me from my otherwise empty void of emotions. I don't feel sad, nor guilt and anger. I don't feel anything at all. As much as it pains me to do so, it must be admitted that my heart felt cripplingly desolate.

Sumireko muttered something to herself. She then went over to my laptop and...connected to a Wi-Fi network? All she did was to type up some password into it.

...I thought she couldn't do that

After having launched Chrome and went on Google to test the connection speed (which was pretty damned fast), she left the mouse to me and left with a last glance full of ambiguity. I stared at the door for several good moments before looking back at my screen. Great, NOW it's accessible.

But it doesn't matter, does it? Nothing mattered. Rubbing my eyes to ease the drowsiness from earlier, I decided to occupy myself with the 'net, another attempt on my pitiful escapism. It had been quite a while, and it was amazing that I survived without it.

As usual, the first thing I did was to check my email. Something new was in my inbox. " _To Miles_ " was its title, and it had been there since...the day when I set out from America? What is this?

My mind was hesitant, fearing it may either be a virus threat or another adventure I must embark on, which, at the point, was despaired beyond anything. But my mouse-hand wasn't a coward. Instinctively, it clicked and opened up the mail that had been sitting there for over a month.

* * *

 **Hey Miles, this is Wendy Hearn, the girl who was confined to her bed and the one who dragged u over here. mr. Kourin was kind enough to help me type this up.**

 **If you're seeing this, then I must have already left this world. I must say, it feels really weird to write something when you're supposed to be "dead".** **Ive made sure to have sumireko put your internet out so that you will only receive this email after I'm gone. She was pretty bad at acting, wasnt she? Must have** **tried to fake her inability to fix your connection, i'd imagine. Anyway, you must have a lot of questions, so I'll tell you everything here as a proper thank you for killing me.**

 **Over a month ago, before mr. Kourin sent out the first invitation mail, I received a dream. It was very special, as it was one of the few dreams that did not disturb me.** **The voice in the dream talked a lot about you and your abilities, and it told me that I must bring you here. It left me with a lot of information, such as where you lived, your** **email, your age, and such. They want you for some reason. Well, I wasn't about to comply, yknow? So I thought of a plan to protect you, a** **total stranger at this moment, from them. Since the voice came from the dream land where I had visited the most, I knew that it wanted you drag you in there.**

 **It was only recently that I had discovered this, but I could "bring in" whatever images inside my head into the dream while I was asleep. So I did what I was** **told, asked my friend from the Yakuza for help, and got you here to japan (by the way, you must be wondering about that Tokyo flight ticket. my friend sent an extra by accident, so hopefully you picked the kyoto one.) anything suggestively enough was fine, but a horror book...hm...a horror story might be the best solution.** **Sending unspeakable ghosts and monsters to my dream realm and scare everyone in there? yup, sounds good to me. they would be so horrified that they'll never think of bringing people from** **the outside again, while having my little own payback at the same time. A good plan, right? though you wouldn't know if it worked or not, i guess.**

 **hey Miles, even i don't really know you right now, could i trust you to watch over Sumireko while i am gone? she must have been really, really lonely. The girl doesn't have much friends, you know? I** **don't mean to trouble you, but could you stay here in Japan for a bit longer..? Go help her make new friends. if you don't, my ghost will come out at night and haunt you!**

 **-Wendy Hearn, the best sleeper you will ever see**

* * *

Damn it, Miles. You massacred all those people without feeling anything. You didn't even shed a tear at her funeral. Are you really going to let a cliché posthumous message tug your nonexistent heartstrings?

"But you have them now!" A certain squeaky voice shouted from my left shoulder, opposite from where the little devil was standing. It must have been my imagination, but it sounded a little like her.

Ah fuck. Don't cry now, don't...don't...

Fuck.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Dive to the Dream**

* * *

" **I am going to start a paranormal sealing club.** " Sumireko Usami said.

"Huh?"

Okay, so she didn't really say that out loud. It was just a way of communication we had discovered that worked reasonably well.

Ever since coming here time seemed to have moved a lot faster. It's already been a month since the girl Wendy Hearn had died, and here I am, still leeching at her friend's luxurious place. Because life went on, we tried to overcome our inevitable grief over her death. It wasn't easy, breaking down like a little kid at certain intervals while trying to make it as inaudible as possible, but it eventually got better. When spring came and the weather got warmer, so did our spirits. It felt like a receding wave, the shock of her death still aches but it gradually dimmed away.

One day, while I was wasting away on the internet, I sought for a way to communicate with the girl Wendy told me to look after, as it was her dying wish. It didn't occur to me that the solution was beneath my nose the whole time until I was Google Translating the lines from this Japanese website.

"Oh shit...I could use this." I muttered jubilantly, then called Sumireko over from the living room. She annoyingly said something in Japanese and slogged over, demanding to know what was so important that she had to leave her reality game show.

I typed in "What up, you school skipping otaku." in English and selected Japanese on the right side. After recovering from her initial surprise, she smiled, not sure if happily or mischievously.

And so I began knowing my residential middle schooler. I'm not exactly sure if it was just the translation, but pretty soon her personality came true to me. Although I could already tell that she was a little snobby to begin with, her translated messages proved my theory to be truer than ever. In short, she has some sort of high and mighty complex just because I actually had to bend down to pick stuff up. But she's fine once you get to know her well...which I was not able to do until like a few months after we met.

Oh yeah, Sumireko also went back to school after that day, probably self conscious from my little greeting of the century. Gotta catch up on the education, man. Hopefully she'll make some new friends.

So back to what she said here. We were sitting together in a tightly packed train, leaving from a Comiket, which, for the uninformed, was basically the Comic Con here. Lots of cosplayers and fan merchandises. As an overseas fan of this industry, being able to actually visit this place was very pleasurable. Sumireko, for one, was particularly surprised at my interest in anime. She said she wasn't aware that foreigners such as us liked these things. Boy, is she in for a surprise. Us Western fan base are larger than the Japanese would think/care. It's not just anime either. From visual novels to light novels, from sub groups to devoted scanners and translators, I'd say that we love this industry just as much as the authentic fans here. Too bad most of us had to resort to online piracy. Well, who could blame us, really? Japan pretty much owned the best entertainment in this world, but they had ignored the far cries overseas for quite long. We are unfortunate enough to love the products of another nation that is geographically separated from us, and because of that, the overseas fandom was never acknowledged.

...Okay, there goes my fanboy rant. It's just the curious stares I got from the people there made me all angsty again, channeled in a more specific medium. I could imagine the "What's this gaijin doing here?" in their heads. But at the end of the day, I was still one of them, the okatu, and given the opportunity to come to Japan and visit a Comiket checked off a rather large portion of my bucket list. It's good to finally relax after having so much shit the first day here.

After visiting the con I became tired as hell, and the setting sun outside made me drowsier than ever. Weird, recently sleep has been the number one thing in my list of idling activities. Not that I'm complaining, though...A nap sounds nice, it'll take a while to get to our stop...

And then Sumireko poked me in the ribs with her elbow. She held out her phone and showed me that translated message from Japanese. Something about opening a club.

I rubbed my eyes, then took the phone from her and replied.

" _Why?_ " A lazy response was made.

She grabbed her phone back. " **Because I want to.** " She held the screen to me for a few moments, then added something. " **It was Wendy who wanted to do it first,** **but since she's gone, I'll take up the torch.** "

" _Eh._ "

Sumireko squinted at me with vexed eyes behind those lens, annoyed at my nonchalance in this sensitive subject.

" **She wants to find and protect other people with special abilities, like us.** "

Sounds noble...and familiar too. Was Wendy Professor X?

" _So you are gonna create that club or something?_ " I texted back, yawning.

" **I just said that.** " Then she shook her head and continued the text. " **Well, no. At least not now. I'll make it when I get to high school. The president of the secret** **sealing club (name yet undecided)...it doesn't sound so bad. Fitting for someone like me, right?** " She beamed at me innocently(?).

"Erm..." I actually said that out loud. Well, she does possess tekekinesis like the Prof., albeit weak as hell from what I've seen. " _Did you actually kill Wendy so you could get that position?_ "

...

Pro tip: think before you speak.

I shouldn't have said that.

To my extreme relief she didn't take offense and giggled instead, though it was done with subtlety as not to disturb the quietness of the train. " **Maybe.** "

Another day, another successful unintentional joke. I seriously hope she was shitting me, though.

Sumireko had nothing to say after that, so I leaned my head against the cold, smooth wall and closed my eyes. Wendy...so she wanted to do something like that, huh? That girl was too good for this world, humanitarian to the core. Now that I had witnessed her plan on sheltering special people like us, making them feel belonged, I couldn't help but feel even more respect for her. She protected me, a total stranger, just because of some trippy prophetic dream.

Which reminds me...did Wendy's plan on "scaring" the people from her dream actually work? I don't think a Bill-insert and his girlfriend with the alternate sane persona would disturb anyone, unless they got all lovey dovey and made peace with them.

I sighed silently. Wendy died before seeing her club happen. Because of my indecisiveness, Sumireko had to steal that book and took desperate action for me, for the better or for the worse. God, I would make such a shitty leader.

Soon the mechanical chugging of the train washed away from my ears and the robot known as Miles Franson went to sleep mode.

* * *

Okay, I'm a little worried about Sumireko. Ever since that day with her telling me about the club, she became obsessed with the occult. Something about researching the paranormal beforehand. Everyday she browsed creepy sites or watched some conspiracy TV. Too bad they don't have U.S.'s History channel here. I guess she just bored of me beating her ass in UNO everyday.

" **Gensokyo.** " She showed me on her phone one day, which was rather sudden.

And again, _huh?_

It was a word I did not recognize. Instead of translated into a proper English word it was converted into its romaji equivalent.

" _Gensokyo,_ " she said physically, seeing me confused as hell.

Well, now that she pronounced the word, I couldn't help but feel it rung a bell somewhere. Where have I heard it before? Was it from some anime?

She proceeded to tell me that this "Gensokyo" was the name of the dream location Wendy visited most frequently. According to the late dreamer, Gensokyo was a land full of man-preying monsters from Japanese folklore, and they had been isolated inside that place for good. Well, what good did it do if the place still managed to snatch Wendy in?

Hm, was this Gensokyo the same as that special dream Wendy mentioned from her little plan?. Was it the same place?

You know, a normal person would think all this is pretty crazy stuff. I'm no exception at first, but still, the only choice is to believe. I mean, if telekinesis and my useless fucking ability is real, what would exclude this dream land from being the same?

" _What if..._ " I said to Sumireko " _Wendy went to this Gensokyo place?_ "

Seeing my message she stood there and thought for a moment, then nodded slightly and shrugged at the same time. I assumed that was a " _Maybe._ "

The term still bothered me though. The more I hear it, the stronger the sense of familiarity I felt. A trickle of nostalgia as well, but I couldn't place what and where. Have I actually been there before in a dream?

When translated character by character, Gensokyo literally meant "Fantasy Land". A name that was very imaginatively named, it seemed. There was nothing about it online either, showing that it must be a real mysterious location to avoid the prying eyes of the internet. Well I didn't expect to find anything about it anyways. It _was_ a dream land, after all.

Anyways, after that day Sumireko continued to delve deeper into the shadier side of the society. If she's really fired up for that club then there's nothing I could do. I just hope that she would grow a pair, because our horror movie sessions were only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what will happen if there was too much exposure of the occult. If she eventually gets consumed by it and became as tormented as Wendy, I'll have to step it, hopefully without using my ability.

That is, if I actually stay in Japan for that long. I'll honor Wendy's request as much as I can, but I think my welcome was overstayed. Freeloading at some rich thirteen-year old girl's house, horray. I don't know when, but I would have to go home soon. I've been avoiding my dad's calls recently, unable to think up of a better excuse to be out for months.

In the end it all will depend on how much friends Sumireko would make and how independent she's going to become. Heh, is this what it feels like to be a parent? No, an older brother, perhaps?

So I was sitting in front of the fireplace again, bored outta my mind. There was only so much you can do on the internet. And I don't know about you, but a laptop was never my option to play video games with. Sumireko was in school and wouldn't be home til a few hours later, so I had the house all to myself, and here I am, staring at this pile of burning wood. That comfy feeling never gets old, but it didn't feel as right in spring.

 _Maybe I could kill time by rereading a book_ , I thought to myself. My books, the ones stored away in my duffel bag. No additional securities were installed because I trust Sumireko was not dumb as I thought she would be. And so far, she wasn't.

Instead of picking out one book though, I dragged the whole bag to the fireplace, then plopped myself down. You know, I think I'll quit writing. Seeing how I don't feel the passion for it anymore after Wendy's death, there was really no point on continuing this obsession of mine. She was my last victim, and it _will_ stay that way. Nobody's gonna die by my hands anymore.

Heck, now that I thought about it my skills as a writer probably sucked naturally. It was all just due to this dumb thing of mine. At least ever since my stay here, I came to know that accidents were not the only ways people would die. They could have a gruesome visceral death, like hobo, or it could be the sweet release of death, the sickly girl.

Reaching inside the bag, I randomly took out a book, aiming on giving it a final review before my interest for writing will be terminated indefinitely. And of course due to my shitty luck it was the snow white journal, the Necronomincon. I didn't know why I even bothered to keep it after that night with the hobo. It's not even worth reading. The original purpose on creating in was unnecessary anyways. Japan was like the safest fucking place in the world. Nobody dared to touch one another without explicit permission from the ghosts of their ancestors, e _specially_ if you hung out around the Yakuza (not saying that I still see them anymore, but still...).

So seeing the fireplace was right in front of me, I casually tossed the damn thing into it. As I watched its white pages burn, a distant shriek seemed to have come from the journal. It must have been my imagination, but that was probably the final cry of whatever's inside. When it was burned into a smoldering black crisp, my mood for reading was no more, dead like my latest "masterpiece".

I was seriously considering on burning the rest of my books when suddenly something really fucking weird happened. In the middle of the fire, right at where the Necronomincon was, a gigantic eye-like thing opened up in mid-air. It was a giant hole, shaped like an eye, and inside of it was an endless void, with an untold amount of real, human eyes staring back into my own cold soul. My spine shivered at the horrible sight, and my body was completely paralyzed, unable to do anything but gape at the strange thing in front of me.

* * *

 ** _You have done well, resisting on your consciousness's departure to its realm of dreams._**

* * *

A demonic voice appeared inside my head. It felt as if the voice pierced through my scalp.

* * *

 ** _So now, thanks to your little "sacrifice", I will have to bring in your physical body instead._**

* * *

I tried to shut my own ears, attempting to block out the distorted voice. It grew louder and more intrusive with each passing syllable, bouncing and echoing around my hallowed head.

* * *

 ** _Are you prepared for a trip that will change your life forever?_**

* * *

And with that, the voice stopped, the eye-shaped portal in front of me sucked me in like a black hole, and the robot known as Miles Franson was no more in this world.

Mind the fucking gap, Sumireko.


	16. Chapter 16

**Part II**

* * *

 **Chapter 16 - Fate of Eight Hundred and Twenty-Three Years**

* * *

 _The wind blew gently, caressing my face with its tender hand. I found myself lying against the trunk of a tree, facing a view full of warm and vibrant pink. Cherry blossoms as far as the eye could see, trees and petals alike, drifting. Behind me, a pleasant, pulsating feeling can be felt, as if the tree behind me was alive, showing me its unmistakable signs of life. With the sweet smelling air, I concluded that there was nothing to conclude. Only the fact that I lied against that beautiful cherry blossom tree mattered. Spring has come._

Welcome home, Sato… _Its ghastly whispers intruded my mind, and I could feel the branches covering me up from behind. But I don't resist. Instead, I came to embrace its soothing voice and hands as it convulsed against my back in response..._

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar place.

"Ugh." I blinked and tried to process on the events that had lead up to this. What the hell happened? How did I get here, was I somehow drunk last night...Oh wait, yeah, that creepy eye thing. It popped out of nowhere and sucked me into...whatever this place this. I'm at a large, grassy plain, with no signs of the end to this green or civilization anywhere. Behind me, a mountain dominated the horizon some good distances away. Nearby, delicate flowers bobbled their heads from the mild current, spreading their nasty pollen to my face. The sun's still hanging in the sky, bright as ever, the answer to why was the weather so warm. Ah, spring at its purest form.

...How long have I been out? Though the last thing I remember was that eye portal thing, I felt as if a lot of time had passed. Hey, don't tell me I had become the new Rip Van Winkle?

Stretching my body, I felt several loud and nasty cracks, mostly from my arm. I remember the impact. When I came out of that portal, I felt myself falling, though I wasn't fully conscious. The last thing I _felt_ was my arms snapping from the violent landing, with the pain practically forced a final knockout.

Yeah, but somehow my arms are fine. Just a little sore. Could I have imagined all that? Anyways, the more important question: where the hell am I?

The first thing I did was to reach into my pant pockets for any usable items that could help me survive the wild. Only two things: my cell phone and my deck of UNO cards. Guess one is more useful than the other. I turned on my phone, as any sensible person would do in this situation, but of course, no fucking signal. Is this some kind of stranded TV cliché? I felt the urge to throw this piece of technology away, but on remembering its expensive price tag my hand stopped itself.

Great. I'm completely on my own. Should have watched more of those wild survival shows when I had the chance. The only "secret technique" I know of is the option to drink your own piss when desperately dehydrated, and _that_ will be the last of my last resorts.

First things first: am I even in Japan? For I know I could have been transported to some rural area just outside Kyoto, but at the same time this place was pretty enough to resemble the pictures I saw online from Denmark or Switzerland. Guess I have no choice but to keep walking. At least this place isn't polluted by smog. The air here smelled fresh to breathe.

Also, I'm a liar, or at least I think I am. For some reason I feel strangely comfortable here, as if I knew this place by heart. A strange sense of familiarity and nostalgia overwhelmed me, reminding me of that cherry dream earlier. ...Have I been here before?

I walked for what I think an hour before finally finding other people, much to my relief. From a distance, I spot the shape of two people sitting on a large mat in the grassy plain. Upon getting closer, they revealed to be a small girl wearing a pink hat and a pink frilly dress, and a young woman wearing a blue maid uniform, complete with a white headdress and an apron. The maid held out a white umbrella over the girl, covering her from the understandably hot sun. They seem to be on a picnic of some sort, seeing how the younger girl was drinking a cup of tea.

Uh...are they cosplayers? What a strange location for them to be at, but I suppose they're in the same boat. Maybe I still am in Japan, after all.

The little girl, who appeared to be eight to ten years old in physical appearance, had short, light blue-ish hair. Her dress reminded me of the ones women wore in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The maid companion, on the other hand, was much taller. She had silver hair, with two long braids tied to her sides. As my first time seeing that maid uniform in person, it struck to me as a genuine outfit. But it's not only evident from the obvious apron and the headdress, but also the elegancy in which the maid stood. While I was at the Comiket, I was a little surprised at the lack of pretty maids there. Seeing one here in the middle of nowhere only contributed to my unease, but they seem to be good people.

Oh, and the little girl was caucasian looking too. Does she speak...

They noticed my presence, and I was about to say something in my shitty Japanese when the maid suddenly sharpened her eyes and thrust a glare, piercing through me like a knife. I froze in response. Urk, what's with the sudden hostility?

The small girl in front of her saw me, and for a brief moment, revealed a frightening smile, but it was quickly morphed into a sincere one. She said something to me in Japanese. According to the bits and pieces I had learned over the past few months, what she said seemed to be a casual greeting.

She had unusually sharp fangs when she spoke.

Seeing on how I was silent, the girl raised an eye brow, then flashed me that chilling smile again, saying something else this time.

"Oh? Not a speaker of the native tongue?" she said in articulate English, with the hint of a vintage European accent.

Oh god.

Her eyes are crimson.

"I...Uh, I'm..." I stuttered, trying to look calm but apparently that was a challenge when confronted by this little girl. She had an air of nobility about her, but that's not what's making me feel so uncomfortable right now. Her eyes were like of a predator's, and I'm her fresh prey. Something's not right. This girl is different, very different from what I had thought she would be. Sharp fangs, bloody red eyes, and under the shade of that parasol at all times...either she is a _very_ convincing cosplayer, or I'm dealing with a real bloodsucker here...

"I'm...I'm l-lost..." My usually smart ass mouth would jump at this opportunity to converse with a fellow Englisher speaker after so long, but it had failed me completely in this situation. I only managed to convey my main point here, trying to get it over with and outta here if possible.

"Lost? Did thee heareth that, Sakuya? Lost! Hahahahahaha!" She laughed. "Thou art quaint comical for a human, outsider. Tell me, that is English thou art speaking, is it not?"

No, I don't speak Shakespearean.

All of a sudden the gut twisting feeling I had dispelled almost as soon as this girl lost her regal composure. She went from crazy scary to an ancient relic that somehow survived the passage of time. Plus, this little girl actually felt like one now. I feel a childish character coming from her, now that she loosened up the tension and dropped the intimidating act.

"Well uh, yes, I do speak English...ma'am?" I wasn't sure if she actually looked like her age, given that she might be a vampire, so I tried to be as polite as possible. "I think I'm lost. Where is this place?"

She laughed again.

"Well well, aren't thee a jester."

She referred to me as an "outsider". Unless that was handpicked from her own lists of fun vocabularies to use when greeting strangers, perhaps I really am in an unfamiliar land, now that others here had noticed it.

The girl then observed me thoroughly, though unlike Wendy, she looked like a predator (again), studying its prey. "Hmph, thou art quite fortunate to stumble upon I, Remilia 'Tepes' Scarlet the Thirteenth. Very well, outsider," the girl who referred to herself as Remilia stood up, her maid followed with the shade of the parasol. "Come wither, little boy, and I shall guide you through this land of perils, land which hunts and torments the mortal. Thee wilt findeth yourself quite honored to beest attending mine mansion, the most wondrous Great Scarlet Devil Manor, where only the most elegant servitude may be granted to my guests."

What? I could barely understand her outdated language. Hello? Can't you tell that I clearly came from a society several times more advanced than your era?

From what I could gather, I think she said something about showing me around this place. Which is...not the worst option, I suppose. I mean I would rather the get hell outta here right now, instead of attending this vampire(?) further down the road, but as usual, there was really no choice. A quiet consent was mumbled from me, and after a moment's delay, Remilia nodded in approval and ordered her maid Sakuya to clean up.

As the maid packed the stuff back into a small basket, she said something to her mistress in Japanese.

"Speakth English, Sakuya. Don't thou see we hast a rare guest hither?" The girl snapped back.

"Yes mi'lady, I am terribly sorry. Is it really a wise decision to bring this human with us?"

Damn girl, I'm standing right here.

"Since at which hour didst thee start worrying about harmless lambs, Sakuya? There hasn't been a valorous guest for a while, and I am in the humor of playing the host. So he stays."

"...Yes ma'am." Sakuya nodded and continued to clean up, all the while avoiding my face. Well, at least she had a more up-to-date accent than her mistress. She doesn't seem like a vampire either.

Anyway, I thought I would be overjoyed to meet other people here, especially if they spoke English, but it looks like all of it depended on the circumstances. If I wasn't scared on stranded alone in the middle of some random place before, then I am now, escorted by a suspected-to-be vampire and her maid who doesn't seem to like me very much. Luckily Remilia doesn't seem to be so thirsty for my blood, because she wanted to show me her house somewhere here. I got invited by a vampire, it seems.

As soon as she was finished we began to leave. But there was something I wanted to confirm first before I perhaps die a horribly stupid death from whatever they will lead me to. I scooted up to the maid because I do not wish to converse with Remilia any longer, lest it fatigue my mind on deciphering what she says.

"Hey uh, do you know what exactly this place this? Where am I right now?"

I hope I didn't sound too blunt, but I need to know. I have to know, to answer this sense of unfamiliar nostalgia inside my chest. Sakuya the maid looked at me for a few good moments, though it wasn't the hostile glare like before. Only one word was directed to me before she looked back to the front and continued walking.

"Gensokyo."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - The Devil and Her Domain**

* * *

"Tell me human, doth thee believeth in fate?" Remilia 'Tepes' Scarlet the Thirteenth asked me, while we walked down this dirt road that had emerged from the grass plain.

"Uh," It was a rather abrupt question, as she only talked to herself the whole time. "Sure." From my mouth came out an surprisingly simple answer from a writer of compelling fiction.

Remilia smirked. "Doth thee bethink it's fate that we hath met hither?"

UH.

"She meant 'do you think it's fate that we have met here?'" Sakuya said helpfully, seeing on how I was stammering to make a sensible response. Well okay. Trying to fish out the romance in me, isn't she. I'll take up the challenge.

"Fate?" I said "Fate is a buzzword people use when things go in a way they don't expect. I admit that I did not expect meeting someone like you here in this strange place, so yeah, guess I'll call it fate. I'm a believer, after all. Do you think 'destiny' is same as 'fate'? A synonym as it may be, I had witnessed a long occurring conundrum regarding to the widely debated idea."

She replied without a moment's hesitation. "Of course destiny is the same as fate. It commands the string of events that befall to thee, fate is a mere alias, no? Things people expect or not, twas meanteth to befall regardless. Mortals simply has no means over their fate."

"But they do. Destiny is but a predetermined path to guide you, not for you to follow permanently. There is always a way to walk down another road and become something you don't expect yourself to be. Fate may just be a name people came up for a glorified coincidence."

"Silly human, thee cannot changeth thy fate or destiny. The different 'paths' thee spoke of may be different, but in the end those art the same branch on the tree of thy fate. Tis for the weak willed and fragile minded to believeth this. Striving to become something different than what hadst initially planned for thee is unthinkable, and thee may just becometh another abomination in the word for discarding the true path."

We got into a heated discussion over this topic for the next ten minutes, rebuttals and objections back and forth. It the end it was a bitter stalemate. Her being the strong advocate of obeying thy fate, while I tried to take the sides she was going against. Well, I do admit that I got carried away, but I'm impressed. I haven't got to be like this riled up since forever. This girl knew what she was talking about,. and she had a lot of wisdom for someone in a kid's body. That ancient dialect wasn't so bad now that I had gotten used to it, if anything it made her sound a little smarter.

Is it really fate for me to meet her here? I do not know, but it seemed like this little dirt road we are trudging on may lead to the destination that will change my life...again. Yes, real original, I know.

What came after our exchange of philosophical beliefs came a period of vocal stagnancy, so I tried to loosen up the mood and get her to answer the one question on my mind.

"Hey uh, are you actually a vamp...you _are_ human, right?"

She looked at me in the face with those eyes, drenched in the color of blood. "Humans? You dare compare me with those fragile lambs, little boy." A small breath was taken, her chest puffed and swelled with pride. "...I am a vampire, the ultimate hunter of the fear all living things despise: darkness. Did you found out that just now?"

"Well, no, I had some suspicions, but I didn't really expect such a straightforward answer from you."

"There is nothing to hide. Us vampires are proud royalties of the night. It is only right to have everyone know of my identity."

Christ, she reminds me so much of Sumireko, the superiority/god complex and all that, except a LOT more brattier. I guess there was a certain charm to it, but such personalities are no favorites of mine. Uppity bitches ain't my thing.

...So it's all true, then? The most popular supernatural entity used in modern fiction, the inhuman monsters that lives off the blood of their victims. ...Eh, by now I shouldn't be so astounded by that, given that I had seen a lot of shit, but I still did. Guess Hellsing didn't wipe out all of them.

"If it wasn't already obvious, then witness _this!_ " Remilia stopped, mildly surprisingly her maid. She bent her back a little to the front and then, after a small eruption period, two large black bat wings sprouted from her shoulder blades, much to my mortal surprise. The power of Christ compels you, holy shit.

The vampire looked back at me sideways, seemed to be waiting for any comments on her new sleek, organic displays.

"I am sorry that I have ever doubted you, madam."

* * *

It suddenly started to snow while we were walking to Remilia's place. It was barely enough to notice at first, but with the cold and tiny white dots drifting around I think it's definitely snowing. Which was weird. Does Gensokyo have some kind of weird climate since it's snowing in the middle of a beautiful spring season?

"Why did it start snowing, Sakuya?" Remilia asked her servant in English, confirming on the weather. Oh, so it's not normal here after all.

"I have no clue, madam." The maid shook her head. "Perhaps it was the work of a snow youkai."

"Hm."

Youkai...What does that mean? It sounded like a pronoun, by the context of what she said. Ugh, this feeling again. I don't know why, but hearing that word made me feeling all nostalgic again for unknown reasons, reminding me of that time when first hearing about Gensokyo.

"Anyways," Remilia resumed her previous self absorbed speech "Thee may or may not knoweth this, but I hath lost to that shrine maiden on purpose. T'was all a forswear; that self indulged maiden was deluded by the fact that the _she_ could beat me at anytime. T'was all a ruse, a ruse! Planned by yours truly, no less. That witch too, and that gap sloth, and all the other 'powers' of this land. Hah, those amateurs bethink they all could beat me! I'll has't thee knoweth that, since I am a descendant of the most splendid Count Vlad, mine powers art threefolds a thousand superior than of theirs. With merely mine claws, I could pierce through their…"

Yada yada yada. She's been talking about the same thing for the past twenty minutes. About how some time ago she tried to conquer this land and got her ass kicked in by a shrine maiden. Blah blah blah her pride woudn't admit defeat. The more she spoke, the more I think that she's actually throwing a secret tantrum, definitely fitting for her appearance and her obvious stubbornness. That chilling vampire demeanor from earlier didn't seem to exist anymore.

As she kept on going with her Tales of Remilia the Great('s Failures), I crossed my arms and looked to the scenery on my right, not really listening. A small patch of dark green trees thickly clustered together far away, likely to be a forest, while the grass plain we exited earlier fluttered from the breeze. It was a peaceful sight that many people from the city dreamed of.

Was this really the same Gensokyo Wendy spoke of?

I wasn't entirely surprised to hear that this place is Gensokyo, _the_ Gensokyo. Wendy read _My Love for the Stained Glass of Yale_ , not some Amnesia inspired novel, so her little plan probably never worked out. In the end, I was still grabbed into her dream. Everything sure felt real here, not even the classic Pulling My Own Cheeks/Ears to Make Sure I'm Not in a Dream worked, so everything in this place definitely is physical enough for me to exist in. From my first impression, this land doesn't seem to be so hostile, with the "unspeakable horrors" lurking at every corner. The heavy amounts of green and the wonderfully clear sky contrasted greatly from my imagination of the place. This place is drop dead gorgeous, and it would be an ideal vacation spot if that drop dead part wasn't speculated to be so literal.

And Remilia's a pretty European monster for such a Japanese-y land. She's got a Western maid too. Where are the, uh, red faced, long nosed demons?

"Um, Remilia...sama?" After hearing a brief pause after one of her sentences, I tried to see if she may know about the reason of how I came here. "I would like to ask you something...madam?"

She scoffed, most likely in response to my idiotic ways of addressing her. "What is it?"

"Do you know about this...eye shaped portal thing?"

Remilia raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate further, human."

"Well, it was violet in color, and inside it leads to an empty space with lots of smaller eyes floating around. Some ribbons were decorated onto it too. Real creepy."

"Ah." she said "That, would be a 'gap'."

"A what?"

"A gap. A creation of the youkai Yukari Yakumo."

She mentioned the name I heard somewhere in her speech.

"I knoweth what thou art thinking," she continued "she might be the one who dragged thee in here, am I right?"

"Uh, yeah, I suppose. Think you could tell me why she did that...ma'am?"

"Specific reasons for thee only? That I doth not knoweth, but Yukari is known to bring people from the outside world for her own pleasure."

"She does that often?"

"Once in a while, yes. But most of the time we do not hear about her victims until it's too late."

"'Until it's too late'?"

"...Twas only rumors, but when some people tried to investigate, those gents hadst only hath found the remains of their corpses. Bones, decayed flesh."

Oh.

Remilia smiled, though she did so without any readable emotions. "Thou art quaint lucky to have stumbled upon me. Gensokyo is a dangerous place. When the night arrives, it becometh the domain of the evils that calls here their home."

"And you are...not one of them?"

Her neutral smile intensified, though I spot a glint of malice hidden beneath those crimson pupils. "I am simply in a good mood right now."

A long silence pertained after that. As usual, Sakuya had nothing to say, neither to me nor her master. She seemed to be human...was she like me, one day finding herself sucked into a strange, distant land? Does Remilia make humans her servants in exchange for protection?

As I pondered about the situation with a frown, someone else came by. It was a young, blonde girl who wore a dark dress and a witch's hat. She came down on a broomstick and greeted Remilia. Well now, another Western denizen of the east Asia fantasy land, it seemed.

The blonde girl spoke something in Japanese, chatting with my host. Her hair's bright color evoked the image of another girl who once had it. That's right, what if Wendy came here? I might actually see her again, though this time she might be a ghost or something. Remind me to ask the vampire about her after this.

After a stray glance onto me, Blonde Witch Girl was a little shocked to recognize my existence. She began to speak with Remilia again, this time eyeing me at various intervals, with me most likely being the topic of their conversation. Soon she left and quickly flew away on her broomstick, almost as fast as she had came in.

Huh, some friend of Remilia's?

When I looked back at my gracious host, looking to see if we were going to resume our tireless walk, the vampire, all of sudden, had a different look on her. Those red eyes, dyed in the color of gore, seemed to gleam at me under the dark shade of her maid's white parasol. And then her old look was back. She bared her fangs and smiled the most dangerous smile I had ever seen in my life. My body felt a vomit-inducing feeling, utterly paralyzed and unable to move within the presence of this creature who deemed herself far above mortals.

"Well, now that others hither had seen thee, I suppose it's a time for nap, don't thee think, outsider?"

The last thing I saw before my vision violently blackened out was that terrifying and devilish smirk.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - A Tea-less Conversation**

* * *

To the denizens living here, the word Gensokyo would translate into a meaning that would equivalent to "boredom". Once whatever routine for the day was finished, there was nothing to do in this dreadfully peaceful land. Free time was a luxury no one really asked.

The magician Marisa Kirisame was no exception. She yawned, soaring across the skies of Gensokyo simply for an attempt on creating amusement. Sure, she had burned quite some hours researching and testing magic spells from the book she picked up, but there was only so much failed experiments and nasty explosions you could handle before becoming officially done. Usually she would gather mushrooms in the forest that surrounded her house, or pester her neighbor Alice, or visit her friend Reimu at times like this, but, well, usually she got tired of them too.

She remembered the tales she had heard from Sanae Kochiya, the girl who used to live in the outside world. Tales of endless, delectable information, which could be conjured instantly with several "types" of your hand, and tales of entertainment, oh sweet entertainment, everywhere varying in everything. Mechanical tubes that showed things on the inside? Check. Metal blocks in which you place next to your ear and could chat and communicate with anyone, anywhere? Check check. What she wouldn't give for a day, no, just ten minutes, for a trip to the outside world, away from this sterile land.

Marisa flew around aimlessly, trying to wake herself from the drowsiness as well as killing time. Her custom made bamboo broomstick proved to be a useful steed over the years, and her prowess in the sky was second to only the tengu.

And Reimu. The blonde magician puffed her lips at the thought of the shrine maiden. Reimu is her friend, but she still couldn't get over how lucky, how easy-going she was. She never could. Her flying, for example. Marisa had spent years of her childhood on learning how to fly, with failures and crashes exponentially higher than the few scores of her successes, while Reimu could do flips, rolls, and other acrobatic tricks in the air almost as soon as she was born, all by herself and without the help of a tool like a broomstick. If anything, Reimu should be grateful of her gifted powers, not lamenting about her lack of material wealth.

Well, lamenting about it before Takeyoshi anyways. It had been some time since Reimu's got rich, and the gossip died out eventually, with nobody caring about it that much anymore. Whatever omen her money symbolized was grimly accepted by the population of Gensokyo, and so they carried on with their lives. Marisa was the same, she's not one to think about such things deeply.

But still, it kind of bothered her. It was too sudden. Why _then_ , out of all times? Did that time, near the end of winter, somehow beared a significant meaning to the village's populace? Marisa was not alone on being suspicious here. Kasen Ibaraki, the morally correct hermit that visited the Hakurei Shrine from time to time, for example, launched a personal investigation regarding to Reimu's filthy amounts of cash. Similar things had happened before, where Reimu received impossible donations, but they were either fake or it was a total scam. After a thorough amount of sleuthing in the human village though, Kasen found that this time it wasn't the case. The money was real, and it was all for Reimu to keep, much to Kasen, Marisa, and others' puzzlement.

 _Speak of the devil_...Marisa spotted a familiar figure flying about, circling the human village in the distance. It didn't take a genius like Cirno to figure out who that was.

"Yo, wassup." She flew over to Reimu, who stopped her patrolling duty and hovered mid-air. She carried her trademark item on her right hand, a finely crafted wooden stick with two long pieces of holy paper sticking onto one end in a zig-zag pattern.

"Oh, it's just you, Marisa. What do you want?"

"Nothin', really. I'm bored as hell." Marisa squeezed out another yawn. Maybe she could go take a nap. Having someone like Reimu as your friend really influences you. But ironically she has gotten quite workaholic recently. "Say, shouldn't you be bored as well? Patroling the village like this everyday, I mean."

Reimu sighed slightly and crossed her arms. "This again? No, I'm good. My satisfaction with my duty is irrelevant anyways."

In response to her predictable reply Marisa rolled her eyes. Duty this, duty that, what happened to the good for nothing Reimu she had once knew?

"So how much are they payin' you for this?"

"...What?"

"There's always gotta be a catch, my dude. Is the village chief bribing you? Is his handsome son tryna pick you into his harem? Don't tell me somebody is blackmailin' you. Ah, if that was the case," Marisa gripped onto her shoulders "you should tell me, Reimu. We're all here if you need help."

Unable to tell if was genuine worry or sardonic sarcasm, the shrine maiden shook her head.

"Nobody's paying me anything, Marisa. I'm just doing this out of my free will."

"What?" Marisa backed away "You? Doing something for free? That's...impossible! Are you really Reimu? Don't tell me you are some tanuki in disguise and the real one was kidnapped months ago!"

"Oh my god Marisa, don't be such a drama queen. Can't you see that even I have a shred of common decency, just like everyone else?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Now scram, I have work to do."

Marisa whistled mildly and leaned back on her broomstick. "Before that, I'ma ask ya something. When's that little spring festival of yours gonna happen?"

"You mean at my shrine?" Reimu looked up at the clear sky, though a patch of gray cloud blotched out a good portion of it. Tiny flakes of snow were seen to be drifting down. "I'll make it next week, if the weather's good. Say," she pointed above "what's with that weird cloud? It's snowing from up there."

Marisa shrugged. "I was gonna ask the same thing." _If I remembered it_ , she didn't add. It wasn't that much of a deal, but the cloud does stand out if you look up at the sky. It and the snow slowly got larger by the minute, but only so at a subtle rate. "Well, expect some new faces at your shrine next week."

"Why, gonna introduce me to some of your new weirdo friends?" _If you had any_ , like her friend, Reimu silently finished her own sentence.

"Nah, that'd be Remi. She's got a human with her. I saw them walking towards the mansion together."

Reimu quirked an eyebrow. "Human?" The only "human" Remilia Scarlet is known to associate with is Sakuya Izayoi, who served her as a faithful maid. Minus Reimu and Marisa, no other humans dared to be in the same room with a vampire like her.

"Yeah, she told me he's a relative of hers."

"...I assume that's bullshit."

"Whoa, it's...late in the afternoon, but still. Careful with that tongue, man. He DID look like one of hers though. He looked like Alice too."

"She told us that Flan's her only family before, remember? Tell me more about this human." Reimu would have easily ignored and overlooked this if she was her former self, but the idea of a human with Remilia, a high class vampire, doesn't sound exactly too perky for an occasion, so her shrine maiden mode kicked in, if it wasn't there to begin with. When was the last time Remilia had a taste for the flesh?

"Huh? Oh, well, that's all I know, really. I only saw him for a couple seconds before leaving. Didn't even realize he was there." Marisa cupped her chin, trying to recall back what she had seen earlier today. "Oh yeah, he was wearing weird clothes, like you could tell right away he wasn't from here. Hmm..."

"Like he wasn't from here...?" Reimu joined onto the speculation. If the human wasn't from "here", that could only mean one thing...

She widened her eyes.

"Of course. He's probably from the outside world." Reimu bit her thumb, a bad habit she does when troubled, and looked down onto the dark roofed houses of the human village. "Argh, this is bad. I don't know how Remilia's got him, but at this rate...Marisa, you said they were going to her mansion?

"Uh yeah. They were walking on the road, probably 'cuz that he can't fly."

"When did you last see them?"

"I think it was a coupla hours ago."

The wonderful shrine maiden of paradise swore something under her breath. "Damn it, how come you didn't tell me this earlier." She looked down at the village once again, but her mind was made up. It doesn't matter if the human was from here or the outside. "Watch over the village for me Marisa, I'm gonna pay Remi that overdue visit she's been asking me."

The Hakurei shrine maiden quickly flew towards the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, leaving her friend flustered over the turn of events. She disappeared into the horizon, the setting sun almost devouring her figure.

Marisa watched her friend leave before turning around and looked down at the human village, the view Reimu had seen so much recently. She doesn't really get what's the big deal with the human, but she'll leave whatever the problem is to Reimu. _Oh well_ , the girl yawned, _that nap is going to wait, it looks like_.

Magus of the forest, stars gliding through the sky. Beware, foul youkai, the Ordinary Magician flies!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 - The Scarlet Devil and Her Treacherous Domain**

* * *

 _My lips quivered, my eyes absorbing the bright, cherry colors in front of me. An endless frontier of cherry blossoms, with each one having their own beauty. The sight intensified through my eyes, and my brain received a jolt of creativity, an instant response from the breathtaking scenery. I have to write. I have to write a poem, a poem that perfectly describes every single aspect and detail of this view._

 _Something came out of my mouth. I did not realize what I had just said, as it was in a language foreign to my ears, but somehow, my spirit understood. I recited the poem, already formed into my mind and developed in three fine stanzas._

 _But they weren't about the cherry blossoms, nor their sweet petals which lured me into their embrace. It was the tree behind me, the gigantic cherry tree that is basked in its own glory of beauty._

* * *

"...Ah."

I woke up.

Again. Geez, what happened?

"Ow fuck." The back of my head hurts like hell.

And also, what's with that dream? The same place, same things again. All I remember was pink, lots of pink, and the similar kind of nostalgia I felt ever since landing here in Gensokyo.

I found myself in a dark place, a very, very dark place, where my only source of light was from a thin gap above. The cold walls behind me felt like stones, and to my front lies a gate of some sort. It had bars. Multiple bars made of cold steel. God damn it am I in a jail or something? What kinda crime did I even commit? (Besides the thing with my writing, of course. I'll probably never get busted for that.)

So...let's recount what had happened. I was talking to Remilia on our way to her house, which seemed to be pretty far, judging that we had walked over half an hour. Her maid Sakuya mostly remained silent. And it was kinda snowing. Some blonde girl with a witch's hat came by and spoke with Remilia, then for some reason she got real scary and I blacked out.

My head hurt from thinking about this, both literal and otherwise. The back of my head, specifically. I think it's safe to assume that someone had knocked me out unconscious. Damn, to think I would fall for such a cliché move. But at least I discovered today that it works, since I have woken into some dark, dark place.

I was sitting there trying to figure what exactly lead to me waking up at another strange location when a foreign source of light lit up some distances beyond the bars. A dim orange light from by a candle appeared, along with its carrier, Sakuya. She slowly walked up to me, wearing a poker face. At her other free hand I heard the jingles of sweet metallic keys.

"Oh hey," I said, hands gripped onto the bars. "Here to break me out?"

My only reply were those impersonally emotionless eyes, dedicated to carried out whatever her orders may be.

"I have nothing against you." She said softly, then unlocked my cell. I was about to express my delight of freedom when she somehow disappeared and reappeared behind me, my hands now tied up roughly with what felt like a bundle of thick rope. Great, so I'm guessing she's the one who delivered the incapacitating head trauma move used in movies. Again, the only thing I felt really damaged was this fucking stinging pain, but otherwise I feel fine, so the joke's on those guys who thought the knockout thing would be impractical in real life. No brain damage, coma, cranial bleeding, or amneisa to greet me...at least not that I'm aware of yet. ...Yeah uh, I think I'll have a visit to the doc after this actually, if I manage to get out of not only this building but Gensokyo as well.

The maid escorted me out of the dark dungeon by pulling dragging rope like I'm some kind of dog. Woof woof, lead me to the bitch who set this up. Oh, and it actually _was_ a dark dungeon.

When I came out of the pitch black place, the bright lights from the chandeliers hanging on the ceiling stung my eyes dearly, and it took me a good minute to recover. After that, I found myself to be at the lower level of some large place, where the walls were painted in a type of red that is the love child between blood and the sunset. As we ascended the red velvet stairs, quite a few maids passed by and bowed to greet Sakuya. They were small in stature, almost as short as Remilia, and had...pixie wings on their backs. Then there a few of those weird little green things. They were even smaller, about the size of your hand, and they had sharp ears. Those little guys didn't even bother to pay their respect to Sakuya, instead doing whatever tasks they were supposed to do, like hastily wiping the floor or walls clean. I guess they were goblins of some sort. Yet another wonderful entry in my log for all of the creatures I have seen in this "Eastern" fantasy land.

It seemed like Remilia has a lot of servants in her place, ranging from those tiny dudes to fairies. She must be one hell of a rich vampire. Given from her speech earlier on the road she sounded like she has a powerful position in Gensokyo. Maybe the choice to obey was a valid one after all.

After a while we arrive at what I think is a dining room, and a grand one at that. The walls continued to held that red color throughout the mansion, with a huge rectangular dining table in the middle, an equally huge tablecloth covering it. On the ceiling giant chandeliers almost sparkled off from their expensive golden hue...if they weren't actual gold to begin with, their quality vastly improved from the ones down below. At the far side of the table sat my host Remilia "Tepes" Scarlet the Thirteenth, sipping on a glass on red wine.

"A magnificent place, isn't it." she said, wine glass in her hand.

I wouldn't lie, this place is pretty damn impressive. It's even larger than Sumireko's penthouse back at Japan, indescribably more expensive as well. Whoever her parents were, they must be some super influential assets in Gensokyo.

Sakuya made me sit on the opposite side of the table, with Remilia a respectable distance away. Her master gestured her hand and her maid unbounded my hands. Or at least I think she's one who unbounded it. The ropes rather just fell for some reason, as if it suddenly got loose.

I spot several fairy maidens wandering into the room, chattering. When Sakuya saw them she swayed her hands to shoo them out, hinting that this may be a valued moment here. I gulped and looked around. There were three exits in this fuckhuge dining room, all of them having no doors. One being on the left side, where the maidens had come from, one on the right, and finally one behind me. No windows. With Sakuya knocking me out and escorted me up from a dungeon cell, I could tell that I'm officially a prisoner to Remilia now. Was everything before all a part of an act to capture me? It may possible to just get up and make a run for it out from one of the exits, but, well, that's actually impossible, because I would get lost easily in this mansion and Remilia will just catch me with her superhuman speed or something.

So I have no choice but to go with the flow. For what reason I am here?

Remilia stared at me with those red eyes, almost glowing. "How are you feeling, human?"

Me? Let's see, getting sucked into a strange and alien fantasy land all alone with no meanings of communications to the outside whatsoever and being enslaved by a vampire, trapped inside her huge maze-like, territory, with nobody on my side?

"I'm fine." I said, forcing an unfazed expression and a normal voice. If you're wondering, that was sarcasm. But let's be honest, what use is being sarcastic to someone like her, given my situation? So that was really said out of fear, if anything.

She sipped on her wine, the wine in which its color associated with the primary source of intake vampires ingest, and smiled. That horrific smile again.

"Doth thee wish to have some of this, human? Home fermented. Sakuya knoweth mine preferences will."

"Um sorry, no. I'm not...legal. Not legal to drink yet."

"Legal?" Remilia raised an eyebrow. "Doest the law forbid thee to drinketh on the outside?"

"Yeah, can't drink til a certain age, the number being different in different countries." It was a lie, of course. I'm old enough to drink, it's just that I don't want to drink that stuff now. The last thing I need is to get drunk.

"Huh. What a redundant law. Fine liquor art meanteth to be drank by anyone with a valorous tongue and a clear mind."

Pretty sure that "clear mind" wouldn't be the same after a few swigs of the stuff, but I wasn't about to comment that.

"...Well uh, what do you want with me, madam?"

"I want thee to drink."

"No, besides that. Why am I...here? I was locked up in your basement earlier."

"Thou wish to receiveth the point already? How boring. I expected thee to be entertaining like the ones here."

"Sorry that I can't drink."

She sighed and shook her empty glass mildly, signaling Sakuya for a refill. The maid, who was next to me, instantly disappeared. She reappeared the next moment next to her master, a bottle of wine in hand and Remila's glass refilled. Jesus, now that's another problem if I decided to run. Some kind of superpower, along with a vampire, fairy maids, and goblins. I guess this place isn't called the "Fantasy Land" for nothing, though so far I spot nothing of the authentic Japanese-y type yet, unless Gensokyo is actually populated by creatures from Western mythologies.

All right, so anyways I think this is going to be a diplomatic discussion with the table and the wine setup. We are going to negotiate for who knows how long. Luckily, my smart ass mouth had returned a little when speaking with her. Getting used to her accent earlier had paid off, and I got comfortable enough to be a little witty. Let's do this, little girl, verbal combat is the one thing I'm confident at other than UNO.

"Hmph," she took a little sip again, "I trust that thee art well educated enough to knoweth what a proper vampire is?"

"Of course, I have seen too much of them from where I came."

"Oh? Thither wast still of mine kind brave enough to lurk in the public?"

...Oh shit, so there actually are vampires? And they were...hiding, from the context? That information will be useful if I ever escape back home, but for now I must abide my time.

"Well, I never actually saw a real one, but vampires are very popular in fiction. People love writing about them in books or use them in movies."

"Movies?"

Right, I expected her to be at least aware of modern technology, but apparently that's not the case. "Basically another form of storytelling. But yeah, I know what vampires are." And their weaknesses too. This place was cleverly designed to not have much windows, and there were none in this room, so no amount of sunlight could get in. I don't carry a cross or a silver item with me, and my breathe don't exactly smell like garlic either, if I must say. No stakes. And finally water is debatable as an actual weakness. She was drinking wine, if that counts.

"Be glad that knowledge cameth to thy aid, boy. Thou have just saved a great amount of time, for otherwise I would have to explain the kind of proud species we are, the right way."

She's self-aware about her monologues?

"So why am I here then?" I asked, but an answer was already in my head.

"Well, as thee might knoweth, vampires certainly doth drinketh the blood of the innocent, particularly humans, but since thither wast a rule in Gensokyo that specifically forbids any harm done towards the aboriginal humans hither, thee could imagine the little amounts of alternative food sources of food I receiveth." Remilia leaned on her hand. "Even though I personally don't drinketh much, blood wast still required from time to time, so I hadst to resort to drinking animal blood."

It was a lot to take in, especially with her outdated dialect, but I managed to understand what she was trying to say.

"So basically..."

"'Basically', when I hath found thee, or rather, when thee hath found us, I felt that thee might be not from hither. And then thee toldeth me of how thee was stranded, how thee was separated from thy home in the outside. Alas, joy overtook me. The rule did not apply to foriegn humans. Finally, a real, live human in which I am able drink without restraints." When she spoke, those evil eyes locked onto mine, her lips forming that malicious smile.

So basically I'm her food. As expected.

Basically, she, a vampire, had caught me, a human. The previous friendly acts from before was probably a guise to veil the fact that she's gonna eat me to the eyes of the public.

I have no more to say, now having learned the truth. In the end there wasn't much to discuss. Negotiation my ass, it was a one sided conversation the whole time. A clever ruse, Remilia, real clever. My blood is gonna get sucked dry, leaving my body a lifeless, soulless thin husk, and/or reincarnated as a zombie afterwards.

So basically I'm gonna die.

Yeah.

...

But god damn if I'm gonna let that happen. Wendy sacrificed her own life to save this useless college kid's, like hell I'm gonna let it go waste.

...

Okay, so I said that, but how the fuck am I going to get my ass out of this one? To escape from a vampire and a maid with super speed/teleportation inside a place I don't know anything about? I have as much chance of getting out as Leonardo DiCaprio winning an Oscar. Well, that's an overstatement, actually, because Leo sometimes had a chance of winning with whatever solid movie he had played that year, but me? Nope. Not a chance. I'm glued to my seat.

Also, what about her maid, Sakuya? She seem to be as much of a human as me, so how come she gets the special treatment of...staying alive? I wanted to ask, but, "alas", the words of some familiar old guy came back to me, echoing in my head: _There is a time and place for everything, but now._

"So..." I gulped down this lump I didn't know I had in my throat. "When are you going to...do it?"

Remilia chuckled.

"Thee seemeth to be in quite a hurry. We could begin now, if thee wish."

"Um."

In the end all I managed to do was to decrease the little remains of my lifespan.

I curled my lower lips and bit it with my teeth. I have to think of something to save my ass. Something. C'mon brain, where's that fabled desperate adrenaline I need, but for last minute ideas?

She got up and went to the right side of the rectangular table, slowly walking to my direction. The vampire bared her fangs and poked one with her index finger. I'll be honest, if that was a form of intimidation, it sure as hell worked. Damn it, at least think of some cool last words before I die, some wisdom for the next generation on how to evade vampiric little girls.

Wait, last words...

"Before you do it, could I have a last word? Or rather..." I summoned the little amounts of my courage and looked at her in the eye. Instant regret followed up, but not before I said what I had to say. "May I have a little last wish granted?"

She stopped. "Last wish?"

I only knew her for half a day, but I knew her well enough. Remilia 'Tepes' Scarlet the Thirteen is haughty, stubborn kid full of vain, and she will grant a pitiful mortal such things before their untimely demise, purely for her own amusement.

"Yeah, do you have paper and something to write with?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 - Tangible and Missing Power**

* * *

Remember on how I said I wasn't going to write anymore? Yeah, looks like I'll have to break that vow and use it to bust my ass outta here. There is no escaping from my past. Hopefully Wendy wouldn't mind this too much.

Remilia furrowed her eyebrows, as if the concept of a last wish did not yet resurface back to her memory. "Paper?" She held a questioning gaze towards me, then leaned to look behind at her maid. Sakuya didn't say anything, but the curious stare was returned. "Well," the vampire turned around "do whatever you want, I suppose."

She looked back at her maid, who this time nodded affirmatively and pulled that disappearing act again, only to return next to me the next moment with the utensils I requested. An old parchment sheet and a quill pen with a fancy little bottle of ink. After I recovered from my initial shock of her unannounced presence, the items were accepted gladly.

"Thou art a poet?" Remilia stood near me dangerously close, holding her chin.

"Well...I'm a writer, but poems...I could do 'em I suppose." I shifted my eyes to the exits briefly. "Got any requests?"

She tapped her cheeks, eyes scanning the dark red ceiling. "Hmph, poem it is then. I'll be thy judge of whether or not thee art a good poet. How about describing mine mansion, virtuoso?"

"Very well. Can you read modern English, none of that fancy mancy scripts?"

"Aye."

Normally I would panic, as poems aren't necessarily my strong suit. Actually, it's more like I have less experience in writing poems than stories. But somehow, at the spur of the moment, I felt strangely enthusiastic. Creativity flowed through me as natural as the blood she was going to consume. The windowless, crimson walls here inspired me as much as unsettling yet regal theme of the place. Poem it is then, it shall be my masterpiece, channeled with my desperate attempt on saving my own skin. Beware Remilia, you picked the wrong writer to corner.

Though having never used a quill pen before, my writing hand moved on its own through the sheet anyways, dipping and dabbing left and right. It all felt so natural, using ancient writing tools like this, and the feeling only intensified my creative mood. You want your expensive place described? Fuck that, I'm gonna paint it with so much imagery that it's gonna look like a completely different place.

I began to enjoy this. I don't know why, but when writing this poem so smoothly, the process triggered yet another minefield of nostalgia that was buried deep within my heart. My emotions changed with each stanza as my pen moved. The fear, the desperation from before was gone, replaced by a unperturbed and serene, heightened state of mind. I never felt like this before; I saw and felt the projected imagery whilst I wrote. This writing process, for some reason, all felt so normal, like I had done this countless times before. Muscle memories had taken over for who knows how long, so when I snapped back into reality I found it to be finished. The paper was only halfway filled, but it was enough. My latest masterpiece, a title-less, nameless poem in which was written as a final attempt on saving its creator's life.

If she's satisfied with my work, she might let me live and hire me as a residential servant or something... _if_ I'm lucky enough to live that long. The more expected and immediate result was Remilia getting in a deep daze while reading the poem, hypnotized by the stanzas. While that happens, I would slip out unnoticed.

"...All right, I'm done." It took me several moments to register the fact that I am in reality again and my writing hand protested with the sores it got from my intense gripping of a freaking feather pen. Was that even possible? Seeing Remilia standing next to the dinner table, still looking at her questionably tasty prey, I moved the piece of paper to her. She had an entertained look on her face, as if watching me write was entertaining. Her maid, however, had her mouth gaped for some reason.

"Hm...thou art already finished? That wast quaint fast, thee wroteth all this in just a minute?"

That was just a minute?

"Thy hands hath moved at a speed that a human should not beest able to reacheth." she rubbed her chin, looking down at my latest masterpiece. "Hmph, let's see thy offering. Where's the title?"

"The title is already known to you. What else would the subject of this poem be about?"

Here we go. The moment I had been waiting for. You asked for a poem, you got one.

Remilia stared at the paper, eyes moving stanza from stanza. Though my special, opportunistic moment was heavily anticipated, somewhere deep down I couldn't help but feel bad for her. She may be an arrogant, immature kid who wanted to eat me, but she's a pretty likable one. Did she deserved to die? No. Nobody did. So why did I do it? Was my own life more important than hers, who had probably lived at least tens times longer than me? All that knowledge and wisdom and experience in her head just, gone, in exchange for some white college kid who got off scott-free. It was an act of last-ditch self-defense, yes, but still I cannot escape the guilt. Wendy...what would you have done? I felt quite ambivalent, maybe the most intense example of such in my life.

It's too late to stop her now, I will to contemplate about this later when I get out. Sakuya, to my relief and frustration did not join upon the reading. She stood at where Remilia once sat, posture unwavering, though her eyes were curious to see what kind of word on word manipulation I conjured up. It's good that she's too far away to read it, but if I want to escape I'll have to find a way to deal with her. Damn, the list of things I should have done ever since coming to Japan grew larger by the minute. How do you deal with runners like the Flash again?

My train of thought was unexpectedly interrupted by someone who's not the maid.

"This is an elaborate piece of work, human. I suppose thy mouth wasn't quite false as it sounds." So said Remilia, still standing and devoid of any signs of her in a mesmerized trance.

Huh?

Nothing...happened? But that's impossible, that there would be no reaction. It's just... it's never happened before. Did I write something wrong? Did I make a spelling error? Is that's what all it takes to disable my killing power? I mean, for nothing to have happened, that must be it. I must've made a mistake. This is a first, I didn't see it with Wendy but every single person who read my stuff so far displayed a hypnotic reaction, so how come it's not happening here, when I needed it the most? Maybe there was something wrong with the paper. Or maybe it's because she spoke weird English. Maybe it's that she's a vampire, a different species...

As I went into a fidgety stupor myself, trying to come up with a reason why she was perfectly fine, my eyes uncontrollably looked up, as if "fate" indicated me to do so, and saw her red eyes, full of life, staring at back me. Ah, it didn't matter why it didn't work. I wasn't getting out of here alive.

"Heh."

A chuckle came out of my mouth, despite realizing the despairing horror that my last chance at survival was a complete failure. I expected myself to go crazy, full of tears and beg for my life pathetically, but I didn't. My mind was calm and still, perhaps the mysterious aftereffect of writing that poem earlier. Remilia's eyes widened a little, as if the sound I made was strange. They seemed to ask "What's so funny, human?" I don't know, but I felt strangely at peace. All that work I did earlier, my last try on saving my own ass...it didn't even stir a reaction on her face. Okay, whatever, if I'm going to die, so be it. Since there was really nothing else to lose in my life, death perhaps was the true alternative for me. It's time for me to join the dead, those whose lives were robbed by me.

"Here," I pulled down my collar and stuck my neck out. "Do whatever you were you going to do before. I'm done."

She raised an eyebrow, questioning my resolve to die, my voluntary will to plunge into the fiery pits of hell so eagerly. Which reminded me of Wendy, but in another perspective. Well Wendy, I did all I could, so I hope you don't mind.

Remilia looked at my poem again, index finger curled up on her lips. Still no reaction at all, even with the second time. I would like to know why it didn't work before I die, but that luxury was never provided, so here, Remilia, I fully accept my consequences, as well as both cruel mistress that daunted mankind: death and fate.

Her eyebrows furrowed even further at my act of selflessness. And then with an amused cock of her head she put down the poem and began to walk towards me. Her lips formed something, words that did not reach my ear as I watched my version of the reaper would was going to take my life.

But it wasn't the last minute adrenaline or my peaceful state of mind that had blocked out the words. It was the sudden booming of walls behind me, which almost sounded like an explosion. All three of us in the room turned to look at the back exit of the dining room, where the view lead to a grand lobby and a giant hole on one of the walls. A young, Japanese girl wearing a traditional uniform of white and red stood by the debris, her hand clutched onto a wooden stuck with paper.

My mouth dropped at the sight, both towards the mysterious girl who jacked in Kool-Aid Man style and the fact that the lobby of the mansion was behind me this entire time.

"Well well, an uninvited guest comes hither..." I heard Remilia mutter to herself.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 - Fiend and Priestess**

* * *

"Oh yeah."

Miles Franson expected the oriental intruder of Remilia Scarlet's fine mansion to speak such words, but she didn't. Instead the young shrine maiden tightened the grip on her gohei-the shamanic stick she carried-when seeing the said human surrounded by two highly dangerous residents of the mansion.

"''Sup," Reimu said, breaking the silence that had occurred from her intrusion. As there was not a single response from Remilia, whose face was clouded by the shadow of her blue bangs, Reimu looked at the human Miles, who awkwardly sat on a chair by the end of the diner table. "Sorry I'm late, I didn't expect Meiling to be actually awake. You the human? C'mon, let's get you outta here."

Miles no reply however, his mouth still hanging open. He blinked several times, then looked at the two next to him to make sure the attention was directed to him, and perhaps that they might be so generous enough to provide an English translation of what she had just said.

The shrine maiden narrowed her eyes at his display of clueless behavior, but she lets it slip. What she had came here for was safe, and that made things all the easier. It's time to grab the package and leave before things gets worse.

But that was easier said that done. Her sharp intuition screamed at her to dodge.

"Hm!" Reimu tiled her head to the left to evade the kitchen knife was accurately tossed as it brushed by. It went out the hole on the wall. "Aiming for my head? That was pretty dangerous, don't you thi-" Before she finished her sentence, Sakuya instantly appeared behind her and held out another knife to plunge into her back, but Reimu broke free with a backwards elbow strike and spun around with a roundhouse kick. The maid disappeared again, returning back to her master at the exit, or rather, the entrance of the dining hall, smiling.

"I was sure you would dodge that." Sakuya pulled out six additional knives from the back of her maid dress and clutched them in-between her knuckles. It had been some time since the two had sparred, so she was looking forward to this rather unexpected match. The violent intrusion justified it, if anything. Just as she was about to leap into the fray again, a slender hand stuck out and blocked her.

"Stay, Sakuya." It was Remilia, whose face had a rather an ungraceful look of anger. She looked at Reimu, hovering slightly in the grand lobby of her Scarlet Devil Mansion. For a second she let the anger indulge her, but after a brief realization of her unruly expression Remilia swallowed down her rage, calming herself.

"So you came here now, out of all times." Remilia placed a hand over her forehead to ease her temper, eyes closed. "When's that little spring festival of yours going to happen? It's been quite boring these days."

Reimu, however, made no effort to make chit-chat. There was no time for to that. She flew towards Miles with a quick burst of speed. That was met with Remilia spreading her gigantic bat wings in retaliation, a gesture for displaying power and to intimidate, which as far as concerned, the latter worked quite well against Miles. Reimu instinctively braked and pulled back, descending onto the cold, red floor, spinning once before stopping her feet and hand sliding. A good amount of space was created between the two, a face off that would soon erupt now that both parties had done showing off their moves.

Remilia opened her fist and looked at her palm, grasping it several times. She then looked back at Reimu, eyes glowing red with silent fury. The rage had returned when the shrine maiden went _straight to the point_. _How boring,_ her mind stated. In any case, Reimu had went too far with that big hole on the wall.

"...Doors were invented for a reason, you know." Remilia eyed the opening on her once glorious mansion, now completely defiled.

"And so were locks." In response the Reimu got back on her footing and zoomed towards Miles again, an attempt to grab him by the collars and leave.

"That wall was about ten year's worth of your donations!" The vampire yelled and charged at Reimu. She brandished her long and sharp claws, repeatedly swiping against the incoming shrine maiden.

"So it's not worth much then!" Reimu pulled back, dodging and avoiding Remilia's advancing assault. Each swipes of fury threatened to rip her apart, but Reimu was able to evade with ease. She had to, in order to enforce order in this land of the supernatural and live.

"I meant when it was multiplied with your _current_ amount of donations!"

"Oh." For a brief moment Reimu stopped. Maybe she shouldn't have done that forced entry after all. She had a feeling it would be a bad idea. "Ah!"

"Watch where you're looking!" Because she had hesitated Remilia's next attack was barely evaded.

"Ugh, no more fooling around!" Seeing the vampire's serious about a fight (and a possible demand of reparations afterwards), Reimu decided it was time to get serious as well. There is no avoiding it, if she wants to get it over with quickly.

* * *

Takeyoshi looked up at the afternoon sky with worry. A black figure on a broomstick that flew around in circles over the human village. It was unsettling as it ever would be. Where did Reimu go, and who was this mysterious figure that now hogged the skies?

Perhaps only a good dozen people from the village knew the answer to the latter question. _That would no doubt be Marisa_ , the son of the village chief thought, staring at the figure. But why was she here? In the end it resulted more work for him to do, as some people were getting quite nervous over the ominous color she bore. The human village has a wall and a two guarded gates, but those don't really matter here in Gensokyo. The youkai, who the humans feared, could fly. And so the presence of the Hakurei shrine maiden patrolling the skies was a significant symbol for the people. It was a wise tactic by his father, but that could have been done a long time ago...

"Where is he now..." Takeyoshi couldn't help but wonder out loud by the entrance of his fine house.

"I would like to ask you that," a chilling voice replied to his rhetorical question. It was all too familiar. Yukari Yakumo emerged next to him out of a small gap. "But it seems like there is something else I would like to inform you."

Takeyoshi looked around. There was nobody on the streets, luckily. "...What do you want?"

"The human you wanted, he's here."

That got his attention. Finally, some pleasant news for once. "What? Really? Where is he?"

"Well," Yukari pulled out her violet fan and spread it to cover her smile. Though she certainly didn't expect Miles Franson to stumble upon Remilia Scarlet's picnic, it was quite amusing to watch over them. "Let's just say he's...making some friends in Gensokyo."

She was met with a scowl. "Hey, stop toying him around. My father wants to see him."

"But he's not here, is he?" Yukari replied, hiding her mischievious smile behind her fan. "Your friend is going to figure out how this place works, if he wants to survive here. Dusk soon shall fall." And with that, the overseer of Gensokyo was gone, her words left to let Takeyoshi's head sink them in. All that was left to accompany him was the gentle snow that had been steadily falling for the day.

* * *

The lobby of Remilia Scarlet's manor was extremely spacious and glamorous. Bar the recently fabricated hole on the right wall, the entrance hall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion could easily be mistaken as the interior of a hugely ornate castle, and with good reason. The red coating on the floor shone brightly, and the grand doors of the fine mansion stood tall, etched with intricate designs and patterns. Truly a hall fitting for a monarch.

Yet as extravagant as this lobby is, a perversely more barbaric event was held here, rather than the wine sipping dance party Miles Franson imagined to be hosted, full of distinguished individual from Gensokyo. The intruder of the mansion and the master of the mansion flew around the open lobby with inhuman speed. They darted from one corner to another, dodging and countering and evading and parrying each other's attacks. All of them were lethal, enough to kill the other party with a single blow, but the two trusted their adversaries that they were skilled enough to not get hit.

And they were, especially Reimu, who Remilia seemed to have trouble with at the moment.

 _Since when did she get this strong?_ The vampire silently thought to herself as she extended an open palm. A stream of vampiric bat familiars came flying out of the small magic circle on her hand, aiming to leech Reimu's lifeline. In return, Reimu pointed her gohei at the creatures, and they were met with her own stream of countermeasures: hundreds of red spiritual needles, sharp both in the physical and the incorporeal nature. The bats practically plunged into their doom as the needles decimated them dozens by dozens. Her attack pushed them back with ease, and Remilia, for the moment, had her will to fight faltered.

Sure, it had been a long time since the two had last fought. A very long time. Remilia was sure Reimu would become stronger with whatever intense training she did and the gained experiences from handling incidents and youkai in the meantime, but not _this_ strong. Her bat familiars alone would have given Reimu a lot of trouble back then, now she's getting pushing back like it was a child's play. It was in her nature as a vampire to underestimate their opponents, yet for the first time in her life she thought that maybe it was wise to reconsider.

"She's winning..." Miles watched the skirmish from where he sat. No, with things going at this rate, it would soon be suitable to call this fight a one-sided massacre. Of course, in any way he looked at, there is no doubt that the agent of god will exterminate the foul vampire. It took him a few minutes at first, but he had recognized Reimu to be the shrine maiden Remilia spoke of during her endless speeches earlier. Long black hair, red and white robes with the exposed armpits emphasized. He couldn't help but wonder if he was witnessing that fight mentioned from her story, with her kicking Remilia's ass again for the second time. It sure seemed liked it.

Remilia's maid made no response to Miles nor attempted to help her mistress. Or rather, she couldn't. She was ordered on not to intervene. This was a personal fight. That hole on the wall was too much. In the end it was too bad, Sakuya would liked to have settled the score with Reimu herself.

"...Tch." the vampire gritted her teeth at the evident outcome of the battle. She considered on using her stronger attacks, but given that they were confined within her mansion grounds, the destruction that came along would surely not be worth it."Too slow!" she yelled as she lunged towards Reimu with blinding speed. A scratch mark engraved across her chest would serve as a reminder on what happens when you cause property damage here.

But when she reached Reimu, or what appeared to be Reimu, the shrine maiden's body disintegrated and was replaced by a flurry of exorcising paper charms, aiming to give the vampire the same treatment the caster's double had.

"Behind you." The real Reimu appeared behind Remilia, her gohei pointed at her back. A pincer attack.

Even though Miles knew nothing when it comes to real combat, he could tell that it was an appropriate occasion to say...

" _...Bingo._ "

Sakuya grimaced.

Remilia raised her hands in the air to surrender, but underneath, she considered her options to escape this undesired situation. The move she personally dubbed "Red the Nightless Castle" would be suffice on breaking this deadlock, but doing so may incinerate her lobby to ashes...Not good.

"Hmph," the vampire scoffed, "I guess you weren't the same as back then."

"Of course. Either I had gotten a lot better, or you were simply rusty from being the lazy bloodsucker you are. Probably both."

"Who are you to call me that?"

Reimu intensified her grip on the gohei. Remilia's not the type to surrender, so this obviously was a trap, if not a desperate one. Her amulets would fly in at a moment's notice if the vampire tried anything funny, and another wave of Persuasion Needles from earlier at her back could teach a lesson or two.

Still, either way, this was not what she wanted at all. They had dragged this fight for too long. Reimu gulped, maybe it's time to get this over with, before the true monster of the mansion comes out...

Next to Miles, Sakuya wondered if she should go and help her mistress. It was obvious who will win, so the least she could do is to avoid any further injuries on her master. She pulled a knife from her maid uniform. A good throw would put Reimu off balance at the best case scenario, but really, all it needs to do is to distract her. Then Remilia would take the opportunity to slip out and strike back. Her punishment for breaking her orders would come later. Of course, she could always use her special ability, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it?

Just as the loyal maid contemplated on whether or not to interfere, a voice no one-bar Reimu-expected to hear showed up. It was soft and innocent, like the curious tone of a young child who questioned just about everything in nature...

"Big sis?"

...Yet a shred of deep, unadulterated malice could be discerned from it.

Miles widened his eyes. By the velvet red stairs on his right, a young girl who dressed just like Remilia slowly walked down, hand holding onto the rails. She looked up at the two girls floating in the lobby.

"What game are you playing, big sis? This looks really fun!"


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 - Another Fiend**

* * *

Flandre Scarlet is the younger sibling of Remilia Scarlet, and like her elder sister, a vampire who thrived on the blood of the innocent. An especially powerful one, in her case. Even within the already formidable Scarlet family Flandre was known as something of a monster, possessing raw powers no living being should ever be able to witness. Once a meteorite had came crashing down in Gensokyo, at the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and with a nonchalant grasp of her palms it was shattered into thousands of pieces, creating a meteor shower across the skies.

So it was a little more than a nasty turn of events for Reimu when she stood there today, having wandered out of her room to see the commotion that had perked up her natural curiosity as a young, innocent child. In mind, at least, because again, like her sister, the two were vampires, and their ages extended well beyond five centuries.

"Flan!?" Remilia looked at her young sister in surprise, who hopped down the remains of the staircase playfully.

"Oh fuck..." Reimu muttered under her breath. In the end the worst case scenario happened. Even though Flandre was usually forbidden to leave the house, it was more her fault this time, having entered it and caused a fight in the first place.

"It's the shrine maiden!" Flandre Scarlet pointed at Reimu, then turned around and saw Sakuya. Next to her sat a human in an awkward position, his eyes glued onto her. "And another human toy?" Her crimson eyes threatened to devour the guy.

Miles felt goosebumps rapidly rising everywhere on his body. Whoever this new girl was, she sure terrified the living hell out of him. Remilia's paralyzing presence earlier was one thing, but this person...just by looking at her he could felt his mortal body succumbing to fear.

From what he saw, she had blonde hair, with a sideways ponytail hanging to the right, and wore a white mob cap, soft looking much like the one Remilia was wearing, but the red vest and dress she wore contrasted from the darker colors her sister had. The thing that stood out the most about her, however, were her vampire wings. Unlike Remilia, whose wings were black and organic in nature, Flandre's wings almost seemed to be purely decorative. The...ulna? Radius? Whatever it was called, Miles could not remember the term he learned from high school biology, but it was there, the straight, bony part of the wing on her was normal, black and firm. It was the actual wings themselves that got his attention. Hanging from the them were crystals arranging in different colors. From red to purple, blue to yellow, the shiny crystalline objects reminded Miles of Christmas lights hanging from the pine trees during winter.

He wasn't sure if those wings were natural or otherwise, but the sight of this person screamed danger, despite her bright and colorful appearance.

"What are you doing out of your room, Flan?" Remilia got into a rather demanding tone towards her sister and seemed to have forgot the brawl earlier. Reimu shifted her eyes to Miles and wondered if she could use this occasion to run. That hole on the wall could serve as a convenient escape.

"Nnnnnnothing," Flandre swung her body sideways several times at her sister's scolding. "I just heard some loud noises here, like boom and bam and blam."

Before Remilia could voice her protest at her little sister's inconsiderate behavior, Flandre looked at Reimu and said "Hey, were you not playing with my sister just a minute ago?"

The Hakurei shrine maiden tried to avoid her gaze and said nothing. If by "playing" she meant wrecking and thrashing around the mansion's lobby so much that the hole looked almost natural, then maybe. Remilia didn't seem to mind the continuous damaging of her mansion during the spur of the moment, though. Perhaps it was all a ploy to legally take more of Reimu's money in the end, for "repair fees" or whatever sugarcoating term the vampire would conjure up. All the more reason for her to leave ASAP.

"I wanna play too! Big sis keeps on locking me in the house, she goes outside have fun all the time!" With an innocent, and from Miles' perspective, sadistic smile, Flandre Scarlet suddenly leaped at Reimu, her crystal wings jiggling. She was met with the exorcising amulets that hovered behind Remilia, with Reimu having directed them towards her. They dove to the direction the blonde vampire, but with a simple, impossible swipe of her hand the paper charms were brushed aside and seemly incinerated to nonexistence.

" _What the fu_ -"

No one paid much heed towards Miles' vulgar English comment. The elder sibling and the chief maid were fixated on the new fight that was happening, a fight that would actually be called a fight. Both of the combatants were equally matched...at least, for the moment. They seemed to fly at blinding speeds, in which Miles only saw brief afterimages of the two tangling with one another. Looking at this wild scene, he thought that maybe the ridiculous action on TV weren't so absurd in nature after all.

"Hah!" Flandre stopped her warm up movement and swung her sharp, red nails at Reimu, who dodged the initial strike with minor trouble. To her surprise, a delayed gust of wind was released and went towards the direction of her stomach.

"Ugh!" She bent back her upper torso back at the last second. The wave of air was sent into a wall, a large slash mark embedded in the red enclosure.

"Since when she could do that?"Reimu gaped at the wall's scar and shuddered to imagine what would have happened if it was to hit her. Miles had similar reaction, having winced dearly at the sound of the impact.

"Since always! But I didn't know I could do that either." Flandre looked at her hand and giggled. A new way to make things more interesting. She raised her arm dramatically and swung it down once again. What followed was a huge ripple of air, even larger than last time, sliding across the lobby and aiming to slice Reimu in half vertically. The shrine maiden swore under her breath and pulled evasive maneuvers, but to her shock it did not crash into the wall behind her as expected. Instead it turned its angle before the impact and followed her to her new position. With an increased amount of vulgarities Reimu spent the next ten desperate seconds of her life dodging the homing blade of air at all costs. When it finally seemed to dissipate, the shrine maiden had accounted at least three moments where she was sure her life would end.

Flandre, on the other hand, was exuberant. Not only she had invented a new attack, Reimu was competent enough to survive and keep her little game longer. The second Reimu had successfully evaded that large ripple of air, Flandre Scarlet began to enjoy this precious form of entertainment. "Fun", was the only thing that rang inside her head...and the only thing that mattered as of this moment. Reimu only had a second to catch a break before the relentless assault was resumed.

Miles broke out of the incapacitating fear just so little that he could gulp down the big lump of something that occupied in his throat. He didn't have to understand their language to know what Flandre was thinking. By reading her twisted face, he could tell that she clearly relished this, that she took sweet delight in Reimu's abysmal rate of making through this fight and yet somehow living through her latest attacks so that she could keep this fight going a bit longer. Her crazed expression reminded him of himself in the past, when playing online games and fighting against other players. At times, when he had the utmost upper hand and could defeat his opponent with ease, he chose not to, so that they would struggle hopelessly as he deny their pathetic attempts to win every time. It was...fun, yes, it was fun to see your adversary writhing in despair and on the near-edge of crumbling defeat, but it was only a temporary, artificial kind of enjoyment that he took for granted. When seeing what he thought was a harmless kind of amusement demonstrated right in front of his eyes, beads of cold sweat came crashing down as to remind him that he was as guilty as this little girl who toyed with her opponent with haughty pride and egotism. No, there wasn't even any pride involved, is there? The blonde vampire seemed to have only acted upon her childish instincts, the type of curiosity that had the potential to lead to destruction. It was like a child who didn't know any better ripping apart the powdery wings of a helpless butterfly, just to satisfy their morbid inquisitiveness. What would happen if you gave such a child an incredible amount of power? He felt like he was going to find out soon, if he stays here any longer.

The captured human took a look at the hole that the shrine maiden came crashing through. He wasn't bounded, and Remilia and Sakuya were too focused on the fight that he wished not to observe for a second longer. Maybe, at the right moment, he could dash out and make it out of here, an improvised plan made right from the opportunity that presented itself after the failure of his own premeditated attempt. At the moment, the most dangerous one here, the deranged blonde girl, was too busy on showing off a new move...

His legs were shaking in anticipation of his plotted escape. _No...calm down_. Miles thought and crossed his arms to calm himself, closing his eyes. If he does run out, what were the chances that he would get caught in the inevitable cross fire? And Sakuya had that almost overpowered gap closing ability as well. _Yeah...no_. He could run, but he can't hide. All he could do at the moment was to sit here and wait for his fate to be sealed right after the shrine maiden dies. For what reason did she came anyways? Pissing off Remilia and having that other vampire called over proved to be an unwise stratagem. Oh well, he mentally prepared himself to get feasted by not one, but two sets of sharp fangs later. And here he thought he actually had another chance to live.

"Mistress..." Sakuya Izayoi walked up to her master, who had landed some time ago on the sides and was watching the fight between her sister and Reimu.

"It's pitiful, isn't it," the owner of the mansion replied back in the native language of Gensokyo, looking up at the one-sided battle. Before it was to Reimu, now it was to Flandre.

"Remilia, mil'lady, we should stop the young mistress. Reimu is going to be killed, at this rate..."

"You know," the blue haired vampire shook her head. "I was going to let Flan gut her all she want a while ago. That wall, it's going to be expensive to replace." She looked at her wrist and rotated it several times. "But...I was thinking, if Reimu dies, what's going to happen to that festival? Without that, this place is going to be as dull as the times before she came along. And the responsibility will be all on me, wouldn't it?"

With a heavy sigh, Remilia Scarlet decided to free her mind of the wall-along with the other damages caused in the lobby-and the embodiment of the scarlet devil jumped up to her younger sister. She appeared behind Flandre, who was playing around with a new energy attack in her palm, and locked her arms in-between her shoulders.

"Flan, playtime's over."

"You know, if you're going to help me, at least say something better than that." Reimu managed to speak between her exhausted gasps, but she did have a smile.

"Shut up and do that fancy move of yours. Make it strong enough so that it would work on her."

"You don't have to tell _me_ that!"

Now that Remilia is here to lend a hand, it's time to end this. She tightened the grip on her gohei and began to chant in a language none of the observers here understood. A bright, rainbow-colored light that matched Flandre's wings started to glow from her body.

"Big sis? What are you doing?" Flandre struggled within Remilia's grasp. "I still wanna play! You don't let me have any fun at all! NEVER!"

But all she got was the silent, solemn reply from her sister, whose face cannot be seen from behind. She hate it. The silent treatment.

Reimu's spiritual chant began to get louder, and her gohei floated away from her hands. The bright light emerged out of her and separated into five colorful orbs that surrounded her body. They made a few lap around their summoner before suddenly stopping altogether.

And then, with a flash, Reimu opened her eyes. The orbs zoomed in towards Flandre, who was unable to move.

"Get that crap outta here!"

Fantasy Seal. That was the name of the signature move Reimu reserved to end a fight, usually to her favor. It was nonlethal, but still enough to put an enemy down for good.

"BIG SIS!" Flandre Scarlet was practically in tears by this point. It wasn't enough. It was never enough. The chance to have fun like this again wouldn't appear in perhaps another fifty years.

"Be quiet, Flan...It's bad to stay up this late for a growing girl your age..." Remilia Scarlet closed her eyes. The orbs of light were so close to her and her sister, and they were so bright that even a vampire like her was forced to look away. She doesn't mind eating a barrage of Fantasy Seal again. Heck, she was eager to see how strong it had became since the last time.

 _I have high expectations for you and your party, Reimu_...Her last thought came through before the light swallowed her into the darkness she herself was all too familiar with, content with today's droll turn of events...

"No! Let go of me!"

...except she wouldn't be so for the fact that she was the only one who faced the holy orbs of sealing.

Flandre gritted her teeth and silently apologized to her sister before snapping back her sister's arms to break herself free of the tight restrain. A vampire like her would heal in no time anyways, some broke bones are no biggie Before the Fantasy Seal enveloped her and her sister Flandre got out, leaving behind Remilia to take it all alone. She wasn't about to have her fun to end here. No, not before getting locked back in her room again.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 - A Divine Disengagement**

* * *

"What the?! She-"

As the sealing orbs surrounded the two vampires, Flandre Scarlet slipped out her suicidal sister's grip before they rammed into them. An intense white light engulfed Remilia and several blinding seconds later, she crashed down with a thud. Sakuya caught her in time, but her conscious was gone for a good day.

"Big sis can't stop me from having fun!" The escapee yelled with her shrill voice and flew towards Reimu, who was caught unprepared. She grasped for her floating gohei and summoned a stream of Persuasion Needles. As the red, prickled projectiles were her more reliable ways of exorcising the wicked, Flandre realized their danger and aileron rolled away, then dove into Reimu's stomach with an overwhelming punch.

"Gah!" Some blood spilled from Reimu's mouth as the two crashed into a wall, producing a loud crack that made Miles cringe. As the dust clouds settled, the shrine maiden was alive as of the moment. At her gut, Flandre's small fist was shielded by a slightly transparent force field, with the same brilliant hue of red that the Persuasion Needles had. It surrounded the entirety of her body, so Reimu was able to survive the crash as well. If she couldn't evade, then make it less painful would be priority, and she executed opportunity precisely the moment it came through.

But still, that attack packed quite a punch. Having came from the destroyer's hands, a ton of excessive force in form of air went through Reimu's makeshift Duplex Barrier, a flaw she realized too late. The built up force pierced through her shield, forming dozens of cracks and linings on it, going inside effortlessly. With a sharp, blunt blow on her stomach it was quickly dispelled, but the pain stayed and it made Reimu wished she would die.

"You...didn't die?"

Flandre slowly met face to face with Reimu, her crimson, bloody eyes seething with a mix of wonder, frustration, and relief. Against all the odds she lived, even if she felt like a large onbashira was thrown into her belly.

"No, and I don't plan to anytime soon." For the first time since their meeting Reimu conversed with her assailant, forcing a smile from the wringing pain. As the vampire stood there dazed, dazed that her accidental "didn't mean to hit so hard" punch was (mostly) nullified, her victim took advantage of the moment and proceeded to reverse the battle's tide. Reimu pointed her gohei at the nearby floor and fired two large physical balls of ying-yang orbs. They bounced off their target, went up to the ceiling, bounced down again, and hit right behind Flandre's spine. The two balls of sheer clustered exorcism energy worked wonders. She slid down to the floor lifelessly and Reimu celebrated the victory by standing by the wall, panting for her life. It's over. It's finally over.

"No!" But the vampire clung onto her resolve. She lifted herself off from the ground, despite the holy burns on her back that were struggling to heal.

"Tch, I knew it wouldn't be this easy..." The shrine maiden considered to risk another batch of Fantasy Seal when all of a sudden...

Flandre suddenly fell on her knees, her hands over her head. Several drops of water seemed to have fell from above. Reimu wondered if there was a leak in the sealing as the water increased. They splattered individually in hundreds, pelting the weakened vampire. Miles looked up and saw a large black cloud had gathered over her, raining and pouring like there was no tomorrow.

"Rain? This is..." Reimu saw a new figure emerging out of the corners of her eyes as the black cloud clasped a boom of thunder. By the same set of staircase Flandre descended down, a purpled haired girl in a purple pajama-like overalls with even more purple stripes watched, no one knowing when she had appeared. The girl's face were weary, and there were some bags under her eyes, Miles observed, a sign of undermined health and vigor, a lot like the girl known as Wendy Hearn was, but she managed to maintain a sprinkle of youth. By her hands a large and thick spell tome was opened, indicating it was likely her who casted the rain cloud as a spell.

"...I don't know what is going on, but you should get out of here." The caster, known as Patchouli Knowledge, who is a resident of the mansion pointed at Reimu. "Remi's going to kill you when she finds out you made her lobby a mess."

"Hello to you too, I guess."

"Reimu, use this chance and leave." Sakuya called as she hauled the unconscious Remilia up the staircase.

"What?" Reimu said. "Speak up, I can't hear you with all that rain splattering down!"

"I said, get out of this mansion, now!"

"Oh. You're not gonna...fight me? Not gonna take revenge of me knocking out your master?"

Sakuya smiled faintly. "You're here to rescue him, aren't you? I'll tell her that he escaped while you were fighting the young mistress." The maid then looked at Miles down below, who seemed to be mesmerized by the subdued vampire in the rain. " _Don't be afraid, go to her,_ " She said to him in English. " _She's here to help you._ "

" _Uh..._ " Miles was hesitant. Just who exactly was this shrine maiden anyways? But it's better than dying outright, so he nodded. The captive of the mansion slowly rose from his seat and felt his legs asleep for sitting too long. He was ushered by Reimu to hasten the process.

"Great, so judging by that nod I assume he agrees? Let's hurry the fuck up then."

Reimu walked up to the grand entrance of the hall, considering to exit the proper way this time. She showed no surprise when it was still somehow locked from the inside, so she gestured Miles to follow her through the original hole she had made, now somewhat difficult to discern among the various other holes, craters, claw marks, and debris in the lobby. As she walked, her finally loosened its tension and relaxed, worth her carrying the gohei carried by the shoulder. The girl took a deep breath and sighed one of the biggest sighs in her life. She didn't think she would actually leave here alive and get her objective without a scratch on him. That wound on her belly is going to need some treatment though, the discomforting pain stung with every step as she slightly limped in the thin layer of snow on the ground. Some internal bleeding, perhaps, but hey, it was a cheap alternative to pay for not having her lower torso see-through.

The remaining observers from the mansion watched the two humans leave, their figures now distant and both limping. Patchouli Knowledge yawned quietly and looked at the residential maid.

"...So why did you let them go? You know she's gonna have a fit about this later. Did you suddenly feel sympathetic towards another human?"

"Maybe...I'm not even sure myself." Sakuya stared down at her master, who lied on the floor asleep. Her childish, peaceful face made her hard to believe that she is actually a vampire lord, and that's not even considering her sister. "I suppose it was a bit too impulsive of her to seal his fate like that."

"You sound exactly like her."

"Do I now?" Sakuya placed her hands on her hips. "You know...Reimu was at fault for this as well. She must have forgotten that the mistress is a light eater."

"Light eater? Was Remi going to suck the blood from...whoever that human was?"

"She told me that she's going to keep him as a pet and only get several drops of blood a week." Sakuya shook her head. All of this could have been prevented if Reimu had more politeness in her methods, but she supposed Remilia was guilty as well.

Sakuya closed her eyes and tried to judge neither of the parties. Anyway, it's time for her maid duties. There was a lot to be done. Once she puts Remilia back to her room and bed, there is going to be one hell of a mess to clean up. But first, she glanced at the left side of a lobby, where a darkened rain cloud gloomed over a shivering Flandre. Something needs to be done about her first. _She must be so shaken_ , the maid thought, _poor young mistress..._

The maid thought for a way to calm her down as she descended the stairs and walked up the blonde vampire in the rain. She crouched down and placed a hand on her shoulders.

"There there, I'm sure the mistress could work something out. I'll go talk to her once sh-"

"No, you wouldn't!" Suddenly her red eyes glared at the maid and she bared her fangs. Flandre overpowered the droplets of the cloud and stood right up, her dominant hand grasped for something. A huge cluster of dark red energy formed in her palms and it manifested as a spear...or what appeared to be a spear. It was long, jagged, and black, resembling a broken clock needle from a clock tower. "If I can't finish playing with my toys, then no one will!" She threw the clock needle and it pierced through the wall of the mansion as if it was butter, aiming straight at Reimu outside.

"That's-" Sakuya's reaction was not enough to activate her ability to intercept it. It was going faster than the speed of sound, a steep red trail followed behind as the needle soared across the ground.

 _No!_

Outside, as the two went out, observing the falling snow and silently unanimously agreeing that it was unnatural, Reimu detected an incoming object approaching from behind. She turned around in time to take a good view at the uneven tip of the demonic spear centimeters away from her face, but not enough to do something about it. There was never enough. A sense of doom, dark as the colors this blood-thirsting weapon sought took over her by storm, and the last thing she thought before everything turned dark was...

... _I let my guard down for one second and_ this _happens?_


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 - A Trip to Oblivion**

* * *

Flandre, having completely exhausted her energy, shut her eyes and met the floor in the harsh rain, muttering the name of her dear sister before falling into the same sleep she had.

Reimu, on the other hand, faced what she had thrown.

To her, she felt the intense damnation and doom, along with the subconscious acceptances, but to Miles, things only had gotten even more confusing ever since landing a pratfall here in Gensokyo.

He saw Reimu turning around, staring at something dangerously close to her by the corner of his eyes. Everything seemed to have slow down, and he blinked halfway through as he watched that long thing inching towards her.

When he finished blinking, however, he felt himself getting pulled down, as if gravity itself had collapsed onto him. Everything in his view suddenly turned into a deep color that he recognized to be purple. Miles felt himself sinking under the earth, but there was no fresh, mineral rich soil there to greet his face. Instead, there were gigantic eyes staring back at him as he floated seemly in zero G. Their purple pupils matched the colors of the alien location he found himself in, and it took him a moment to realize what this void-like place was before fainting violently from the sudden downwards flow of blood in his brain like Reimu.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 - Mileage From the Starting Point**

* * *

I immediately disregarded the recurring cherry dream when I woke up. Almost a pattern now, it had come back to my unconscious mind again, but that's not my most major concern as of the moment. What the hell happened? This is the third fucking time of me going out today. Needless to say, I am quite worried for any potential brain damage.

Let's see...I remember us walking out of the mansion in one piece when all of a sudden we fell into that...what did Remilia call it? A gap? We fell into one of those, having saved from whatever approached us, and this happened.

And I still don't get what did. Christ, I really thought that I was going to die, so when whatever the fuck appeared I knew we wouldn't be off the hook that easily.

But what now?

The back of my head throbbed like as hard as my pounding heart from the adrenaline. I sat up from the hard flooring and studied my surroundings. From my spot, I appeared to be inside one of those fancy Japanese mansions, and a really classic one at that. From sliding screen doors that lead to the empty, cool porch outside and the cold, drab green floor, everything about this place fitted my initial image of Gensokyo for once, a presumed ancient Japanese fantasy land with ronin and Buddhist monks straying about. Though for some reason next to me there is a kotatsu, one of those mat tables with really cozy thermo heating underneath the sheets. Huh, what a sudden intrusion of technology.

It didn't take long for me to notice that I wasn't alone in here. Lying by the kotatsu was the shrine maiden girl who had rescued me, and I would be a lying, insolent shithead if I wasn't grateful for that. She appeared to be unconscious just like me before...possibly from the fatigue of combating the vampires earlier. Over her young, small face a dim streak of dried blood dripped to her chin, and a strange mark imprinted on her stomach that almost looked like a small knuckle. Oh no, is she bleeding out? That...injury came from the blonde vampire girl, and from what I saw it must have hurt. She did do a quite painful gag reflex.

Of course, any disciplined human being with a decent sense of morality would help her immediately, treating that unusual wound and do something about the one who saved their life. Yes, I would do that myself, but Miles Franson's medical knowledge is as good as any guy his age: a couple band-aids slapped on would solve most problems, much like duct tape, but something like this is way beyond my own humble Ph. D. and M.D. in modern medicine.

After some throughout contemplation I conclude that she's got fisted pretty hard.

Soon I panicked on what to do with her (and wrestled for my memories of her correct name). Great, more people are dying because of me doing exactly _nothing_. The savior's sacrifice for the saved.

To distract me from my brooding thoughts, an set of footsteps softly stepped onto the wooden porch outside. As I turned around to see who, or what, had entered our refuge, a young girl who seemed to be same age of the shrine maiden stuck her head in from the side of the screen doors gleefully. Her long, green hair is like a patch of fresh grass after a healthy rain, and the kimono she wore looked really similar to to my heroine's. Who was this stranger? From the way she dressed she resembled the shrine maiden, though colors were pretty different. While Raymoo (or was she called Reemu? I can't remember) wore that traditional dark red with the overlapping white underneath, this new visitor, in comparison, looked like an alternative color palette for a fighting game character, wearing the similar choice of religious robe and garment but contrasted greatly with all that blue she had in place for red. Was she friend another shrine, perhaps?

Whoever she was, her upbeat, happy-go-lucky smile instantly turned into an alarmed surprise when seeing Raymoo's unconscious body, along with the presence of a foreigner who had no business here. The blue-donned, green haired shrine maiden rushed to her and took out a wooden stick similar to the one Raymoo had, except instead of the zigzag papers sticking out it was rectangular in shape and covered the upper portion of the stick like a popsicle. The Other Shrine Maiden then performed some kind of greeny glowy ritual on her belly and muttered some divine prayers.

 _Yes_ , I thought to myself. Finally, someone had came to help. I don't have to do anything now. She's treating her, right? Some kind of healing magic, I assumed.

Or she's murdering her right now and could literally get away with it.

* * *

The first thing Reimu saw when opening her eyes from the deep, hazy slumber was the relieved face of Sanae Kochiya, the priestess of the Moriya Shrine up in the mountain.

"Reimu. You're awake."

"The hell? What are you doing here?" She sat up but immediately regretted so. The wound on her belly reprimanded the rash action. "Where am I?"

A rhetorical question, really, because she perfectly knew where she was.

"You're at your shrine, of course." Sanae replied anyway.

"I figured. Now the real question: how did I get here?"

Her friend blinked and looked at Miles, who sat nearby cross-legged and had no clue on what was going on. "Don't you mean 'we'?"

Reimu saw him and let out a long, deep sigh, having remembered mostly everything that had lead up to her awakening. She lied her back against the wall of her shrine, mostly grudgingly from the pain. Miles did seem to be relieved that Reimu was up and running however, and was glad he placed his trust in Sanae.

"The last thing I remember was Flandre's spear thing coming at me..."

"Flandre? Flandre, Flandre, Flan..." It took several moments for Sanae to digest the mentioning of that name, and when she finally did, her eyes were widened in shock. "Flandre...Scarlet? You fought with Remi's sister?!"

"Well, yeah. And I lived to tell the tale, so bow down low, Priestess of the Moriya and Sweeper of the Fallen Maple Leaves From the Your Deserted Shrine," Reimu raised her voice to a haughty level, her chest swelled with the satisfaction of tangling with the devil. "Who's the better shrine maiden now?" Reimu taunted her friend and business rival playfully, who flinched no more than an raise eyebrow in response to her harmless tease.

"...I have a lot of questions."

"And so do I." The Hakurei shrine maiden shrugged and glanced at Miles, who in his own terms, kinda did the same.

* * *

"You went to rescue him?"

Reimu, with Sanae's help, managed to sit uptight and wrapped a long, white bandage around her stomach. She almost looked like a mummy, Sanae observed, with her non-existent chest befuddled and belly encased.

"Yes I did. I actually felt nice and committed an act of humanitarianism. Boo hoo so shocking it's the end of the world." the red-white shrine maiden grunted from the mild pain from the process and replied with a somewhat annoyingly and obnoxiously tone. "Marisa came by and told me Remi's got a hold of a human, so I went to her place and checked it out."

"You sure Remi was going to eat him? She didn't seem to be the type to rush such things."

Sanae never expected an evening visit to her dear friend's shrine would discover such a thing had happened. Inwardly, she thought to herself that it was indeed incredible that Reimu had survived a skirmish as well as a direct attack from one of the most dangerous and unstable beings in Gensokyo...with just a flimsy shield she had conjured up, no less. All that Barrier tending had finally paid off.

Her eyes scanned around the room for Miles, who was found by the shrine porch, surveying the evening snow and the enormous pile of coins stacked over the wooden donation box.

"Well, I wasn't about to risk it."

Reimu was keenly aware of the responsibility she had gained. Back then, almost as soon as when Takeyoshi showed up with the money, her inner sense of obligation as the Hakurei shrine maiden had returned for the first time in many years. Having sealed away from her endless amounts of mindless self indulgence and arbitrary decisions, she was quite ashamed of herself. Maybe that damned Bunbunmaru tabloid was right about her slacking after all.

Between them, Reimu and Takeyoshi, there was a contract, unspoken but mutually understood. The man of the village would keep her supplied with free handouts, while she would seriously protect the human village and its residents for once. Even if fool died of their own stupidity, the blame will be on her, and so because of that, she grit through her teeth today and saved Miles from all that trouble. It didn't matter if he wasn't from here. A dead human from her incompetence would stain the name of her shrine even further.

On the other hand, Sanae, a girl who devoted to her duties at the very start and is almost fundamentally different from Reimu's core philosophy on work, wasn't entirely convinced.

"Look, Reimu, I know you were in Gensokyo longer than me, but don't you remember 'the rule'? You out of all people should know that."

"'The rule'? Well yeah, but..." The Hakurei shrine maiden was about to refute her point but stopped to think, her brown eyes staring at the green blanket on the side of her kotatsu, not so drab as her flooring but not so bright as Sanae's hair either. ' _The rule'..._ she repeated her words.

"But?"

"...Never mind, it's nothing. Look, let's just be glad that neither of us got hurt badly."

"Not really." Her friend shook her finger. "That wound's pretty grievous, it was enough to mess up a lot of your inner spiritual flow. You're lucky that it hit just above your uterus." she continued, scolding the victor of the violent brawl that went awry. "You'll have to pay a visit to the doctor in Eientei."

She pursed her lips. "No way man, now that everybody in Gensokyo's heard of my money they're gonna scam the hell out of me."

Sanae placed her hands by her hip, looking at Reimu like a mother trying to deal with a stubborn child who refused any amount of sensible reasoning."...Is that so? Well, whatever, I'm no doctor but I did manage to stop the bleeding on the inside. If you're not gonna go then at least stay at the shrine. Given the degree of that unnatural disruption I would say a week's amount of rest would suffice."

"A week?!" She spat out but instantly wished she didn't. Reimu went down on the floor and winced from the pain in her abdomen and about a third of that everywhere else. Shaking her head at the pathetic yet slightly comical display of her friend Sanae let out a deep flow of air from her nostrils.

"You're going to reopen that wound if you keep going at it."

Reimu stopped her whining. She muttered something and crawled underneath the comfortable covers of her kotasu.

"A week though? I have to patrol the village, or else that son of a bitch is gonna kill me. There is no time for me to rest. In fact Marisa's my replacement right now and I will bet you anything besides my money that she already majorly screwed something up."

"All right, if you really don't trust Marisa then I'll go cover for you. But only for a week."

To Sanae's surprise on the offer of a helping hand Reimu flatly refused. "Even worse. You're gonna steal my patronage, aren't you. Just as this rundown shrine's got some business."

"Oops, you got me." Sanae scratched the back of her head. Truth be told, she wasn't exactly sure why Reimu's shrine was chosen as the protector of the village. Though her specialty wasn't youkai extermination like Reimu, she was quite confident in her own areas of Shinto expertise. Oh well, it's not like the Moriya shrine was severely lacking in faith. If anything, this might just be the opportunity to let the sorry excuse of the Hakurei shrine to recover from whatever miserable curse that did a number to its business. "I'll just let the chief know of your situation, all right? You should be happy about a week off." As a peoples' person, Takeyoshi be able should understand Reimu's situation...or so the girls hoped.

Having reentered back in and sitting just several meters away from them, Miles wondered what the girls could be talking about. Given with the bits and pieces he had picked up from during his stay at Japan, he figured they were probably discussing the disastrous events that took place earlier. Wondering if they were finally going to figure out what to do with him, Miles yawned lazily and smacked his lips.

"Oh hey, by the way, since he probably came from the outside and so did you, you think you could communicate and find out just who in the name of this shrine's god I busted my ass to save?" As if she could read his mind, Reimu tried to get onto the source of this mess.

"Hm? What do you mean 'communicate'?"

"He can't speak Japanese for some reason."

"Oh." Sanae turned to look at Miles, this time studying his facial features. A Westerner, she concluded, just like Remilia and a few others. But this is the first case of a Westerner here who couldn't speak Japanese...

 _Oh wait,_ now that she thought about that statement rationally, it actually does make sense. The eccentric randomness of Gensokyo didn't mix well with the modern twenty-first century logic she had nailed inside her head ever since childhood. Sometimes they clashed pretty hard, and as a result she got too used to the bizarre, if not sometimes overly, atmosphere of the land. "He must be not from here, then."

"No shit." _And he breathes air and eats and drinks as well?_ Reimu didn't add.

"What kind of shrine maiden says that out loud? Anyway, I meant he's not even from Japan. As far as I could tell he could be an American."

"Ameri-what?" The sudden usage of alien vocabulary confused Reimu. Sanae continued, saying he could be something...something that sounded like Braydish and Yuropeen. "But aren't you from the outside as well? Can't you speak with him?"

"Nope. Japanese isn't the only language out there, you know. Plus, I'm from Japan and he's from possibly another continent. In short, he's a foreigner. A gaaaaaaaaaijin."

"Okay." So nothing new, she remarked.

"But I think I remember some English from my school days, actually. Ahem." She faced Miles. " _Hi, hello._ "

Miles blinked absentmindedly. Evidently, her native Japanese accent remained, so that little bit of sincere greeting came out more to be like the old Chinese lady who he often took the elevator with back in his old apartment. Not exactly authentic for his standards, but he's glad that there is still a ray of hope to understand what is going on.

" _Hi._ "

"Um..." Sanae pointed finger to her chin, looking up at the shrine's weathered, peeled ceiling and trying to stir up the bits of English from her past lessons in primary school. How she wished on paying actual attention back then. " _How are you? What's your name?_ "

 _Please,_ he thought to himself, now having a clue to where this was leading to as well as the irony of her interrogating _him_.

" _I'm fine. My name is Miles._ " And in truth, Miles preferred her speaking Japanese. It felt better to have a clue on what she was saying rather getting stuck with back and forth ESL leveled conversations. He then wondered if he should toss in his last name as a part of his introduction, out of politeness and the shred remembrance of their culture. " _Miles Franson. I speak only a little Japanese._ " Adding that final bit as something of a trump card against strangers, he felt rather proud for not entirely butchering that phrase altogether with his own accent. Entirely.

"Hm..." The Moriya shrine maiden went through her mind for more appropriate topics within her thin spectrum of the English language. Viable themes include " _What is your age?_ " and " _This is my friend._ "

 _Well, I've got nothing._ Miles reached into his pockets, trying to distill his own awkwardness contributing to the mood. In there, he felt the rectangular shape of two somethings, not expecting them at all. _They're still here?_ His touchscreen phone and the deck of American UNO cards managed to not only get lost during the chaotic battle earlier, but they were in perfect shape and condition as if they were from yesterday. Well, technically they were. To surprise him further, the green haired girl's eyes lit up at the sight of the two forms of modern day entertainment he had brought with him.

" _Is that UNO? You play UNO?_ "

It made him a little tense at the way she pronounced it. _Yu-no_ , almost like the female Japanese name that sounded the same. Which was strange, because Sumireko was able to say it the correct way.

For Sanae, however excited as she may be from the nostalgic family friend card game, she was clever enough to figure that there were no wireless signal in Gensokyo. No, not even the kappa have established that type of technology yet, so the cell phone was mainly disregarded. Instead, her attention was focused on that little deck, an old interest that was rekindled when seeing Spanish word for _one_.

" _Uh, sure._ " Miles managed to reply. Somehow a wave of déjà vu spread across him, but it was completely unrelated to the other...lingering kinds he had been receiving. This one was like that time with Sumireko and Wendy at the hospital. A swish of aching sadness splashed over him at the memory, now almost ages ago but felt as if it was yesterday.

And so, before he knew it, Miles found himself sitting by the kotatsu, playing UNO again, this time with the shrine maiden who had a bright, unnatural color to her hair, and the gravity of the situation completely forgotten. Better to have fun with their lives first before worrying about it...although Sanae will mostly prove to be as mere cannon fodder for his road towards the path of the UNO zenith.

While they played, Reimu tried to watch, but she had no idea what was going on at all. The human known as "Miles" seemed to be winning every time, although Sanae was tenacious enough to put up an impressive resistance. Having no real interest in the game, Reimu's eyes stared at the two players but was actually thinking about what she had said earlier.

Gensokyo, the land they lived in, was originally crawling with youkai everywhere, and people lived in their feeble shacks in fear everyday. It was not until some time ago when order was finally installed and enforced. Since then the man-eating creatures had grown tamer towards the local populace. Reimu is one part of such legacy. Her duties include tending the Great Hakurei Barrier and resolve any situations in which posed a danger to the humans and the system.

But there's also a rule, almost universally applied to the youkai here. The same "rule" Sanae spoke of. Though unknown to the humans as they still live with terror each day from the creatures of their folklore, the youkai weren't actually allowed to kill or eat any one of them. They may go around threatening and scaring the humans, but they mostly stop there...otherwise it was Reimu's job to quell the situation.

Since it was just there, Reimu never had thought about this 'rule' much. She merely enforced it and helped to make this place better for the poor mortals here, much like her predecessors before, the Hakurei shrine maidens of the past. Sure, the rule was handy. It made the youkai unable kill, which made her job all the easier and there will be less of a mess to clean up, but today's event's made her wonder. What would have happened if Marisa never came by today, never informing her of the new "guest" at Remilia's mansion? Surely Miles would be gone without a trace.

She watched Miles pull out a black card with a strange cartoon character in tights and showed it to Sanae, who had just one last card left and yelled a strange word in their language. But whatever it was, she had said it too late. It made her exhale in despair and drew four more cards from the deck by the side of the table. _What a strange game,_ Reimu thought to herself.

She allowed her mind wander more around the topic, hoping that she may stumble across an answer that she was already aware of unconsciously. But the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. If youkai killed and ate people for a living, and here in Gensokyo they weren't allowed to do that...how the hell would they even survive? It's possible for them to fast an extended period of time, but surely they must somehow feast on the human flesh at least once in a while...

She ruffled her black hair in silent frustration. So much questions regarding this rule, now exposed to her as a complete joke. So much contradictions in that little statement. How come she's never thought about this issue before, with it screaming "there is obvious something wrong with me"? And what of Miles, did Remilia found a loophole in the theory and managed to catch him before any other youkai did?

Maybe it's time to consult the overseer of Gensokyo, Yukari Yakumo again. She _was_ one of the people who devised this rule that held an iron fist. Not to mention there used to be rumors about her...transporting humans from the outside to feed the youkai? It was something outrageous as that, but the amount of any traceable evidence is laughable. A strange human skeleton _did_ show up somewhere at one point though, but it was gone on the next day...Oh well, all the more reason to have a nice chat with the bothersome old hag underneath that fake, eternal youth.

Eventually, Sanae realized it was getting dark out and she must head home to her shrine.

"So in any case," she tried to look nonchalant about her consecutive defeats, but Miles saw through her facade. "You should rest for a while. Don't do anything rash, all right?"

"Yeah yeah," Reimu decided on keeping with the issue with herself for now. She watched Sanae go out the front porch and saw the snow from today, still drifting. A think blanket of the stuff already had covered stone tiles of her shrine outside.

"Sanae?"

"Yeah?"

"What's with this snow? I thought it would be spring by now."

"It is spring." Sanae said, but scowled a little when realizing what she was implying. "You don't this is some kind of..."

"New incident? It sure had been a while since the last one." Reimu rested her chin on the kotasu, infatuated with the warmth underneath that masked the pain.

Incidents. Part of a string of strange and usual occurrences that happened throughout Gensokyo from time to mine. Though they were... _interesting_ , Reimu would put it, at best, it never hurt to check them out and prevent any potential catastrophes. Sometimes they were urgent enough to affect the land on an epic scale.

"But I doubt it." She dismissed the thought. "Probably the weather's getting fucked up for some reason. Cirno or whatever ice youkai is making some sorta racket."

"All right then, if you, the mighty Hakurei who bested Flandre the Destroyer, says so." Sanae bantered, but silently wondered if that old term, _global warming_ , was the cause to this weather. Or was it _cooling_ , in this case? "Just don't overexert yourself, that wound is no joke. I'll handle it this time if it turned out to be one."

The Hakurei shrine maiden was hesitant to consent. She didn't like it when people intervened with her incident investigations. But since this time it didn't appear to be one, at least as of the moment, she let it go.

* * *

Not soon after Sanae left a new guest took her place. Miles was shivering from the cold snow and debated to himself whether or not if it was polite to share the kotasu with Raymoo when another pair of footsteps intruded through the porch. It was the blonde girl with the witch hat he saw earlier today. Miles froze, not from the unpleasant cold and goosebumps but at the presence of Remilia's chatty acquaintance, which actually may as well be the cause of those symptoms.

But she didn't seem to be so hostile.

"Yo, Reimu." Marisa took off her shoes and walked in. She placed her broomstick against a wall.

"What the f-" the shrine maiden's jaws dropped. "What are you doing here?"

"Relax," the girl flicked her long, blonde locks swayed slightly, leaving the single braid by the left side of her hair dangling. She grinned and placed her hands behind the large black hat. "Everything's fine. I got 'em all in control. Now that Marisa Kirisame's here, nothing dared to disturb the peace. Ain't nobody gonna mess with the new sheriff in town."

"That's a lie, isn't it."

"Well, the school teacher did kick me out after some time for making a few idiots scared, so I guess." Marisa took a spot by the kotatsu and noticed Miles. He acknowledged her with an awkward smile, trying to suppress his nervousness but in reality it just made him look ever so. "So you've rescued him, huh."

"'Course I did. Who's this then?" Reimu rolled her eyes. "Wait, he _is_ the guy you saw, right?"

"Yeah, he is. My photographic memory wouldn't tell a lie." Marisa waved at him. "'Sup."

"He can't speak Japanese."

"Oh, is that so?" the magician in black studied him. His fair skin tone, wheatish complexions, and light hair striked him to be as a part of the small in Gensokyo that looked quite different from the normal humans. Not so much in physical anatomy, but they just look particularly distinct. Are they perhaps a different... _species?_ "That's weird, but I guess that's why he was so quiet back there."

"So got a clue on how he ended up here?"

"My guess's as good as yours. Yukari probably gapped him in for fun. Oh hey," after looking at Miles' face a while longer, much to his discomfort, Marisa suddenly remembered something from her day at the village. "You remember those two humans who arrived just about a month ago?"

"Huh?"

"What? You're telling me all this time since patrolling the village and you've never seen them _once?_ " Marisa shook her head. "There was a big commotion. Two humans, guy and gal, suddenly popped outta nowhere, just like him, probably Yukari's doing too. And they also looked like him." She said, referring to his foreigner look.

"Maybe they're related? Where are they now?"

"The village chief's son took 'em in. It turned out they had nowhere to go, so he got all sympathetic over them. Ah, and they speak fluent Japanese too."

"Hm."

The girls sat there in the silence, trying to make a connection with them and Miles, but more importantly, they pondered on what to do with him. Reimu risked her life today just to barely save him, but for what? The only thing she knew was his name and his inconvenient disability to communicate. Just who exactly was him? What was the reason for him to be here? Did Yukari plan something nasty again? And what about that "rule" that prevented the youkai from eating people? Was it a conspiracy all along?

"So what are you gonna do with him?" Marisa said after some moments of thought, speaking the first thing on everyone's mind.

"I dunno, but he sure as hell ain't staying at my shrine 'til I figured out what's going on." _Also he can't cook_ , Reimu hypothesized. To her frustration she forgot to ask Sanae to cook dinner earlier, since she was unable to do so herself. Marisa's not the best chef out there, but beggars can't be choosers. If only the human village had some sort of food delivery service.

In the end it was decided that Miles will be staying over at the house of Alice Margatroid, who is known to be hospitable enough to take in lost wanderers. There was also the possibility that, since she resembled him in the non-Oriental way, she will be able to speak with him in whatever language he knew. If _that_ turned out to be not the case, then perhaps only folks at the Scarlet Devil Mansion may speak his ever so rare tongue, and the last thing for Reimu and Miles to do is to go back in _there_.

Of course, Reimu always had the option to send him back to the outside world, given her ever-growing mastery with the Barrier, but since that took a lot of energy she figured a week for him at Gensokyo would be a nice vacation from whatever troubles he faced out there.

As Marisa picked up her broom and lead Miles out of the shrine, aiming to arrive Alice's Western-styled house by foot, Reimu leaned against the wall and sighed, staring at the dusty old ceiling. She thought of renovations, but never found the time to do so. Were there good carpenters in Gensokyo at all?

When they disappeared out of the view from the front porch, Reimu sat up and faked a cough, finally alone.

"Ahem."

She expected a Yukari Yakumo in her casual purple dress to climb out of a gap through her wall, but to no avail.

"You can come out now."

Still no one came crawling out of an inter-dimensional hole with an unconcerned smile. Usually she would appear when she was needed, but this moment appeared to be an exception. Reimu figured she was probably sleeping, a rather convenient timing considering the amount of questions she has for the manipulator of the gap that saved them from Flandre Scarlet. She never knew what went through Yukari's head, nobody did, and she doesn't trust her much either, but, well, what can you do when you need help from someone like her?

Several futile attempts on summoning her later, Reimu gave up. It wasn't entirely unheard of to catch the gap youkai on a break, the one and only trait Reimu had in common with her, so until she wakes up from her highly adored nap, the questions inside Reimu's head will continue running their own laps for the remainder of the tiring day and the rest of the long, protracted week.

Little does she know the so anticipated dull week will be completely out of her expectations.


	26. Day 0

**Day 0**

* * *

I first felt doubt when I was around five years old. The feeling of invoked uncertainty and the unwillingness to believe.

It all started with the weather forecast. They are essentially the greatest oracle known to man, at least, to a bubbled kid who didn't know anything better. When the lady behind the screen said it will be sunny, the next day, it was sunny. Clear skies and endless blue stretching across the horizons as far as the eyes could see. If she called for rain, then there will be rain. My marvel at the weather forecast's prophetic competence never ceased to diminish.

That is, until one day when the first seeds of doubt were sown inside of me. I remember it with great clarity, that day. The weather forecast lady said it would be again sunny tomorrow. Having planned an aspiring trip to the local park with my playmates, I trusted her with blind faith like it was the word of god. I relied on a stranger behind the screens of a rundown television even more than my family.

And then there is the inevitable shock of betrayal. It was _not_ sunny the next day. It was pouring, a thunderstorm having emerged out of nowhere that shattered my plans for the day as well as one of my core beliefs of my fundamental childhood innocence.

This memory of mine resurfaced as I followed behind the blonde girl, a sense of relevancy that had resulted from my immediate consent of their offer. An offer to lead me to yet another site in this bizarre realm. I don't know why I agreed. Raymoo seemed to be more than happy to kick me out though, so that's that.

Now, my impression of a normal person would refuse and reject this offer outright. They would doubt the intentions behind this overture to ruination. What if, considering this magical looking girl, being an acquaintance of Remilia's, that her conscience might be just as evil? A gingerbread house would be my final destination, and perhaps I might end this journey of mine within the claustrophobic confines of a black, boiling cauldron. Why trust them? Surely a recipe to disaster. A normal person would reject everything, considering the amount of shit that had happened to them in this strange land within a single day. But not me. I'm not normal. Otherwise I would have been long dead by now.

Whether it was mere luck, being a rather favored plaything of fate, or whatever superstition that don't seem to be so superstitious anymore, I am willing to bet on the odds further. Having survived through this day a certain rush of thrill filled its way through the veins of this bashful writer, and wherever this witch may lead me to I am genuinely curious to see what else this Gensokyo held for me.

Also she's about to sneeze. Whatever she was called, the girl who escorted me through the freezing dusk is going to sneeze. And I don't blame her.

"Ah...ah..." Her mouth wavered, her eyes shut tightly in anticipation of the biggest moment that was hyped up to be in her life. "AH-CHOO!"

Hm.

She swiped her nose with a finger and turned to look at me. I glanced away at a nearby tree, intrigued at its dry branches and was totally not studying the behavior of a Gensokian. I expected her to do one of those teeny tiny girl sneezes, but to my mild surprise she was indifferent enough to let it out with such volume and velocity.

The girl didn't have anything to say, so we continued our walk. Since I wasn't entirely sure where my guide was leading me, I tried to distract myself from the unnecessary worries by actually studying at the tree we walked by. It was just a normal tree, with its green foliage and chocolate trunks, as mundane as one you would found anywhere in or outside of civilization. It wasn't like the one I saw before though.

While on our way out of Raymoo's shrine I happened to see a single cherry tree sitting at the back, its pink petals that peeked just slightly above the roof caught my attention. I never took myself as a treehugger or anything of the sort, but when seeing that lone cherry blossom I couldn't help but appreciate its beauty. If anyone's going to cut that tree down they will have to step over my dead body. The way its pink petals rustled from the soft touch of the snow appealed to a sense of aesthetics I never expect to discover within myself. It had one of those big, sacred Shinto ropes wrapped around its base, signaling that it is the property of the shrine and its holy grounds.

What is it with cherry blossoms and me?

The tree, as dazzling as it may be, cannot compare to _the_ tree which I had seen so many times in my dreams. _That_ tree. It was huge, unlike any plant or living thing I ever encountered, but despite its imposing size the tree appeared to be gentle as the sweet dewdrops of a sunny morning after a thunderstorm. Its creamy, cinnamon trunk stretched dozens of meters tall. Its thick, sturdy branches gave in to no amounts of blowing wind. Having stood in front of its base in that hazy, mystical environment, I felt a benevolent and serene ambience from the cherry tree, and all of my troubles were instantly washed away by its enchanting smell.

And those were only from the tree itself. The true glory were its petals, the smooth, silky petals that did more than decorate its barks. Like the long, flowing hair of a beautiful maiden, the pink petals were its life and pride. My pride. I could watch them forever, those petals, fluttering in the pleasant, sweet smelling wind, and nothing else in the world would matter.

Ah. That was a hell of a tree. I wonder since when had I grown a soft spot for it, or cherry blossoms in general. I could admire and appreciate a deep view of nature as much as the next man, but ever since the emergence of those foggy dreams I found myself slowly becoming a Lorax. It's a damned shame that it's snowing. The spring here in Gensokyo must be beautiful.

The two of us trudged through the thin snow with nothing to talk about. Even if I spoke her language I don't think there would be much of a conversation going on. I have a lot of questions regarding to this place, and I felt like a damned tourist here, much like when I was in Japan. But, unlike Japan, this trip wasn't voluntary. This girl's kinda strange as well. She's dressed like the most stereotypical witch ever, yet she's Japanese looking. Is her family mixed blooded? Someone please tell me that Gensokyo is actually just a huge cosplay land.

I'll be honest: on the way here I couldn't help but tremble, a conscious fear shivered down my spine. As willing as I am to venture further in this land, the thought of unspeakable monsters, jumping at me from a convenient bush is rather unsettling. But to my relief and cold sweat, nothing had come out at all, aside from the occasional passing of a stray, child-sized fairy.

After a while from the silent walk I spot what appeared to be a thick cluster of trees some distances from us. A forest. Well, if anything this just made me more nervous. Walking into the forest at night with a witch...talk about a good inspiration for a horror story. Too bad I'm not working on one right now, so the moment was not as appreciated as it would have been.

By the entrance of the dense woods a strange housing settled by the right side of the dirt road. "Unnatural" would be within my best ability to describe this location as a composer of words. It was beyond my scope of orderly ordinance. Well, it _is_ a fantasy land I'm talking about, so it may really just be weird to a tourist like me. What appeared to be two small houses, with Asian-styled triangular roofs, sat in front of the forest like nobody's business. But upon a closer inspection I suspect it actually is someone's business. The two buildings, one being taller than the other, were conjoined by a small sliding screen corridor like the ones back at the shrine.

If anything this would pass off as a normal house in Japan, only if it wasn't completely desecrated...or should I say, decorated, with a plethora of literally random things. Small piles of mechanical junk-microwaves, small TV sets, broken radios-scattered across the fronts. Wheel-less bicycles, popped sofas, ancient AC units, empty, rusted storage barrels, this place might have been a shitty, hastily-put garage sale somewhere in the the middle of a Georgia gas station. Various posters of different sizes and contents were pasted unevenly on the walls, from mundane adverts to pinups, all in Japanese texts. By the shorter, small house a curious and equally creepy looking black tanuki statue posed on the by the doors, guarding the entrance like its stone lions cousins. For the icing on the cake, a red, no-entry stop sign posted next to the statue as if to reinforce its efforts on warding off whatever intolerant things that invaded this eccentric place.

A wooden sign hung above the entrance. On it were written three characters in kanji. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying my best to make sense of what they say, but to no avail I fail completely. Listening to Japanese I could handle, but actually reading and writing the language...it is an obstacle that I expected to stump me frequently, and it did.

But never mind. Somehow, when have casted my eyes at those three illustrative characters, evidently written in ink brush with masterful skills, a distant yet indescribably close fragment of Japanese literacy rebounded through my brain. They were simply pictures of black, squiggly lines to me, but somewhere in the back of my head I...understood, in a really vague direction. This sign, my mind tells me, is saying _Kourindou_. Something like that. It didn't sound much of a real and daily Japanese word, so I assume it must be the name of this...second-hand shop?

Having grasped what this sign was trying to say, I found myself scratching my own head. It was like doing something new, only to find out that you had done it before in the past as the buried muscle memories took over. How did I understand the sign? Did I take Japanese before and completely forgot about it?

As if reading my mind, the girl, who had noticed me standing at the front of the garage sale store, smiled and said something despite knowing that I couldn't reply. She said something about " _This place is called Kourindou, my friend runs it._ "

We resumed our journey after that, with the girl having entered the forest first. I remained behind, but only for a flickering moment as I tried to take in as much as I could about this place with my eyes before following. This phenomenon was certainly similar to that state of mind I acquired when writing that poem for Remilia. Instincts took over consciousness, and I did what my body did as it reanimated sequences from the past.

Something tells me that the longer I stay here, the more I would find out about myself, in whatever mysterious fashion this place would reveal. Just what is going on with me? Who am I, really? Have I been here before?

* * *

It took a while, but we finally arrived at our destination. For our trip in-between, all I have to say is that the dark, gloomy environment of the forest made me felt real alive.

There was almost a complete darkness in the forest. If it weren't for the snow and the occasional gleaming of the moonlight it would have been straight up pitch black. It was really hard trying to figure out where the girl was, considering she was wearing dark colors herself. I even tripped a few times, once on something hard and once something soft and _fleshy_.

Relief would be an understatement of how I felt when I an opening emerged from the blackened trees. An open field in the middle of the forest, and in the center a white and shanty Victorian house stood. The craftsmanship is of Western designs, unsurprisingly for a witch. Above us the moon shone brightly, its thin rays rained down onto a fraction of the house's snow covered doorstep.

The witch went up there and knocked on the brown door once. Either she forgot her keys or it's not her house after all. Either way, there was no reply from the tenet. She knocked again, this time with an increased splurge of impatience. Then, after a minute, _another_ blonde girl opened the door with a creak. When her eyes met the witch's, she immediately slammed it in front of her face, but the door stopped halfway as a broomstick was cleverly inserted just in time.

They conversed quietly if not a little tense. The blonde girl from the door stuck her head out and looked at me. Her hair was a lot shorter than the witch's, and she...she's _white!_ No doubt about it. That small, doll-like face and oceanic eyes were definitely of Caucasian roots, with the detective in me feeling she's more to the European side. The proper cerulean dress she wore are reminiscent of the fashion I had seen in the region, more evidence she could be a kin in this foreign land.

But, as I had found out earlier today, that will not guarantee anything.

The white girl studied my face and said something in another language to me. Though I had no clue what she had just said, it was not Japanese. Her words sounded more like a distinct European language, which I personally presume to be Russian. After seeing me unable to come up with a reply she nodded slightly as if having learned something, then she tried another language. It sounded more like German this time. She spoke slowly with sharp syllables and stressed tones, but being an American there is so much I could do. The girl nodded again.

"Hello, do you speak English?"

Third time's the charm."Yes ma'am."

"I see." There is an accent, but untraceable, for the sophisticated cadence was much similar to Remilia's (aside from the out of date dialect).

"Marisa had told me everything that's happened." She articulated the words with such expressive eloquence that it placed me to shame. "I suppose you could stay at my place for the time being. What is your name?"

"My name is Miles. Miles Franson." I offered a hand to the host. She observed it for a moment, then cocked an eyebrow slightly as if amused by the notion of the custom to shake hands.

"Well, I guess you do look like a Miles." She waved it away and turned around. "Come in, unless you prefer a good night's sleep outside."

I look like a Miles? What's that supposed to mean? Oh whatever. The witch, who I take as the Marisa she spoke of, yawned loudly and walked inside without a care in the world, and for arguably the last time I follow in. Time to see what's in it for me.

The girl introduced herself as Alice Margatroid, a puppeteer that lives in the Forest of Magic. She lead me through the large hallways of her elegant house to family sized kitchen, where a bored looking Marisa sat by the blanketed dinner table, who grumbled to Alice about something. She ignored her outright and sat on a small rocking chair by the windows. Two tiny dolls in blue dresses and golden locks hovered behind as if attending their master. They flew quietly, ready to serve at a moment's notice. I suppose that's what the term puppeteer means here.

"If you're hungry," Alice pointed out "feel free to eat anything you find. Your room is up on the second floor to the first window by the right." Then she took out a thick book and flipped through it like it was nothing.

* * *

So here I am, lying on the soft, warm bed in the guest room, staring up at the while ceiling. Whether or not this Alice is going to give me the same treatment as Remilia, I am glad that the weary day is finally going to end. It had been only about an entire afternoon upon my arrival in Gensokyo and I had seen enough to fill out an autobiography. From what the master of dolls had told me, Raymoo, the shrine maiden who rescued me, was gravely injured, and in order to send me back home through one of her Shinto rituals she must recover for about a week. Until then I will be staying at Alice's house, who _seemed_ to be hospitable enough at the moment.

By now Sumireko must have already found me missing. And the cops will show up, due to my prolonged absence in America, and they will probably declare a nation-wide search. My father too. He would be worried as hell, even more so when Sumireko spill the beans. Man, just imagine the reaction he would have upon finding out that all this time I was across the globe in Japan.

I shut my eyes, events of the day quickly flashing before me but dissipating just as fast. Fatigue took over and everything went black willingly for the first time. Hopefully they could wait for a week. For them it's going to be depressing and torturous, but it's all going to be over when I return. I will leave Japan and start life anew, leaving my accursed ability to waste for good. Screw writing, I'll go find some part time job in the shitty economy we're in.

But for now, I should focus on staying alive. That might prove to be difficult, depending on how the seven days here will turn out.


	27. Day 1

**Day 1**

* * *

"You want me to teach you the language here?"

I had planned to pull the one move that would somehow always work on Japanese (or Asian, for that matter) television: bowing. But it turned out a civil diplomatic discussion by Alice's dinner table the next morning was unexpectedly a success.

"Yes please. I really, really need to learn Japanese at this point."

* * *

It took me a whole minute to register my location when I woke up earlier today. As always, the first thing I did without knowing was to savor as much detail as possible from the inevitable cherry dream I seem to get every time I fall unconscious, but alas, like the nature of all dreams the images disappear without a trace after several blinks. It has slowly becoming a pattern now, and unfortunately, so is my lack of its understanding. Anyway, I found myself inside of a really warm and cozy bed, inside of a place that definitely wasn't my room.

Oops, silly me, how could I have forgotten sleeping in the house of a stranger last night? One of Alice's autonomous dolls, or at least I think that they are, opened the door of the guest room and floated up to me, its arms waving as if trying to get my attention and gesture me something.

"Shanghai! Shanghai, shanghai!" It squeaked. I scratched my head in wonder, but then everything clicked just there. My blank, slow-processing morning mental state instantly endowed me of the events from yesterday, the ones enough to change my life several times over. That's right, I spent the night at the house of a girl who talks to her puppet dolls, and I will be staying here for around a week for refuge.

The grandfather clock in Alice's kitchen showed it to be only nine o'clock, but the amount of snow outside would have made telling the time of the day a very difficult task. The sun's nowhere to be seen, and the snow's still going strong, not even an inch less from yesterday. Must be some kinda freak winter here.

"Good morning." The self-proclaimed Seven Colored Puppeteer as well as the owner of the house greeted me by the table, sipping a fancy white cup with golden patterns decorated on the sides.

"Good morning."

I scanned around the kitchen. Several of her dolls, which I have to say, all bear a similar appearance, were busy doing housework. Scrubbing the walls, sweeping the floors, they tirelessly performed their chores with a delicate type of efficiency. Their movements were almost completely synchronized. With each movement of a limb from one doll, another mirrored it for another task. Intrigued, I followed one of them and stepped into the living room. Legions of dolls were busy cleaning house. If not dusting the shelves of books and tomes by the walls, they were busy carrying furniture and miscellaneous props in groups and rearranging them in different fashions. No nooks and crannies were spared, as their small size easily fit within any tiny space that bred colonies of dust and alike.

What a sight to behold. It was almost like watching a close up of a colony of ants working in unison with perfect efficiency. Each and every one of them had a role, and they performed them flawlessly. A few of the dolls came flying through my way and I had to evade them, as they did not seem to care about my presence. I spent a great deal of time observing these little hardworking automatons in awe before realizing that I must owe a morning talk with their master, so I headed back to the kitchen.

"These are your dolls?" I took a seat that's a spot across from her. "They're really impressive." As a side note, they were the ideal representation of an organized and methodical working mass. She must have it easy around here, having the slaves to do all her work.

Alice flipped a page in her thick brown tome without looking up. "Yes, they are. They're my friends, if that's what you're asking."

The one particular doll that stood out among its sisters, the same one that greeted me earlier this morning, floated up to Alice and nudged its face in her arm affectionately. Alice brushed a finger against its cheek in response.

"This is Shanghai." She said. "Say hello."

"Shanghai!" The doll waved to me, and it seemed to be only capable of speaking its own name like a Pokémon.

"Hello." I waved back with an uncertainty on whether or not it is truly sentient. Do they have the Turing test here in Gensokyo? "That is an interesting name it's got there. How come it's named after the capitalist haven of China?"

Alice looked up and squinted her eyes. "Capitalist haven of China?"

"Uh, my bad. It's nothing. Just a coincidental naming." I faked an awkward is Marisa? I don't think I could handle Alice's…brusqueness, without her around to ease the mood up a bit, seeing how they knew each other really well. So much to the point that she stripped down to her undergarments and fell asleep on the sofa last nigh before getting kicked out. "So you are a puppeteer, right? Are these dolls all under your control?"

She gazed at me for a moment, then returned to her book. "Yes."

"Do they have strings or wires attached them like the old fashioned way? I think I saw a few hanging from those."

"Sometimes, when I control them directly."

"Directly? So the ones here are moving by themselves?"

"No."

"No?"

She flipped a page, her eyes seemed to be darting across its texts, most likely in the same foreign language that the title had on the cover. "To put it simply, it's magic."

And this kind of conversation went on for a while. I tried to be as friendly and extroverted as possible, both in gratitude for my freeloading and her willingness to help me, but she seemed to be really uninterested. Though all that effort wasn't entirely fruitless. I did found out that, through our back to forth talk, magic simply does exist. Hah. Take that, Dr. Jeffery, and in your face, Robert. Today is a glorious day for the arcane, a shameful defeat for science, and I would have let Alice known that if she wasn't so absorbed in reading. That book must be interesting. If only I could read it and too, learn some of that hocus pocus to ease up my life a bit…

"Oh." I blinked, having remembered that occurrence yesterday with that shop sign. I am resolved, that, as of today, I have start learning."Uh hey, Alice? Could you…teach me how to speak Gensokyo?"

Once again she looked up from her book, this time with an eyebrow raised.

"Sorry. Gensokian. Japanese. Whatever the native language here is called."

Finally, a somewhat interested, and, for the record, a human expression emerged on that poker face of hers that's dangerously similar to her dolls.

"So you want to learn Japanese, huh." She said, after I elaborated the idea further. Ignorance of the language wouldn't do. I'll have to speak it in order to get anywhere here. I barely survived my time Japan. Getting stranded here like the plot of some stupid cartoon is going to be much worse. I'd like to at least prepare myself for that.

Alice glanced at her book one more time and then, as if reading her master's mind, Shanghai went and fetched a bookmark (I'm still not sure if it did that by itself though). Shanghai placed it at where she was and Alice slammed the book shut with one motion. "It wouldn't be easy, but seeing that you will be staying in Gensokyo for a while, and that you seem to having nothing to do, I might as well comply. Sure, I could teach you."

"Really? Thanks, I appreciate it."

She nodded and got up. "I'll see if I could find any of the children's books Marisa's…stockpiled, I would say, from my friend Patchouli as well as the village. That should suffice as a beginner's level. Shanghai, bring me another cup of tea. And for Mr. Miles here, too, if you please."

* * *

Just several minutes of walking beyond the gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion lies the Misty Lake, a deep and large pool of water located at the base of the Youkai Mountain and served as home to many of the lesser denizens, such as fairies. As its name suggests, the lake, and around it, was almost always covered by a distinct layer of pale gray fog, making it very easy to get lost around the area. And because of this very element, many of the locals uses this to their advantage, though mostly in their silly antics to pass time.

Hide and seek is a very popular example of sport here, with the fairies being sole players most of the time. That doesn't mean any lost human or foreign youkai are not allowed to participate, however. If anything they enjoyed more company, as they made things more interesting, as the new and strange always did.

But, as of this moment, only a small group of fairies are present at the lake, and they played amongst themselves. The majority of the usual mass of fairies and lesser youkai all went home, discouraged from the cold and intrusive weather. Those remained behind are either way too stubborn to end their day early, or they simply had no choice in the matter, and in truth, the latter applied to all but one member of the group right here.

"Man," The ice fairy Cirno, like many of her kin, is small in stature, about as tall as a small human child. She watched the fairies hurrying to their hiding spots as someone stood by the trunks of a tree by the lakeside, covering their eyes. "Pranking humans yesterday, hide and seek today. We've been doing this for years and I think I'm finally getting bored." She muttered to herself, her eyes staring at her friend but her mind at something else.

And that's true, because the only human who's lost in Gensokyo right now happened to be somewhere else, and any foreign youkai, oh there were no foreign youkai at all. In fact, it has been so long since someone new had shown up in Gensokyo that Cirno, the self-titled "leader" of the local gang of fairies, thought it is nigh time that new would appear, based on the "pattern" of incidents she had theorized of.

And soon it would prove that she was right, but in a way she would have never even considered the possibility of.

"…Three, two, one, ready or not, here I come!" Daiyousei, the nature fairy in a green blouse, lush hair, and golden wings, turned around from the tree trunk and opened her eyes. "Geez, why do I have to be the seeker again…"

Cirno however did not even bother to hide. She openly hovered over the icy waters of the lake, where flakes of snow gently melt on its surface. The fog over the lake had already turned into a more chilly blue color from the weather.

"Cirno?"

Daiyousei saw her best friend and, after looking around to see the lack of the absence of her other fairy friends, whispered from the distance. "Cirno, what are you doing? You should be hiding right now. I'm the seeker, remember?"

"Yeah I know, I'm the one who made you it."

"For the fourth time, yeah…"

"Dai," Cirno the ice fairy shook her head and sighed. She crossed her arms and looked up to the clouds. "All of this hide and seeking's getting dull. Nothing interesting's happening lately."

Nothing interesting has happened for a while, to be exact. It had been some time since the last major incident, and when those happen things in Gensokyo would get fun and rowdy. From what Cirno and her gang of fairies had heard (and cared to know), some ancient hermit had awakened from their slumber the last time it happened and is now living somewhere in the realm.

"Well, what else could we do?" Daiyousei replied quietly. Being incarnations of nature, fairies tend to enjoy an almost limitless lifespan, so the aspect of boredom posed as a very prickly thorn by the road. Very much like the youkai, who shared a similar immortal concept of age, they would often get out of their way just to kill time. Not so far as to cause entire incidents like them, but tamer shenanigans such as the (mostly) harmless mischief they prank onto humans are fair game.

"Maybe we could have a snowball fight." Cirno grasped some falling snow in her hands and with no effort formed them into the shape of a ball with her gift from nature. "This cold weather kinda came outta nowhere, but I declare it to be the perfect season for war. Come at me, maggots!"

Daiyousei sighed, but an inner glee was evident. She is glad to be relieved of being the seeker again.

"Having a snowball fight with Cirno?" One of the few fairies who was hiding came out, curious with Cirno's unwillingness to play hide and seek. "No way, that'd be cheating with your powers."

Another slipped out, and soon the entire group gave up on the original game altogether, for it is no use on trying to convince the ice fairy otherwise. "Yeah, not all of us can control ice." One of the nameless fairies sneezed from the chilly weather.

"I can't even make this damn flower bloom."

"Man, what is this, I thought this is spring."

"Word. Is Cirno doing anything funny to make this happen?"

"What?" Cirno looked up from playing with the snow in her hands. "No. Why would I do that?"

"Then what about Letty? She could make snow with her powers."

"I dunno."

"Hey, if this is gonna keep snowing, what's gonna happen to that spring festival with the red-white shrine maiden next week?"

"Aw man, it might get canceled. I was hoping to freeload something there."

"Uh, guys…" Daiyousei tried to speak, but her naturally quiet voice was shut out by her friends.

"Crap. Hey Cirno, you should really cut it out, if you're controlling this weather. Everyone's looking forward to that festival you know."

"I don't know what you are talking about, but here!"

"Ah! She threw it! She threw it on my face!"

"Guys…" Daiyousei raised her voice a little louder.

"Get her!"

"Are you crazy? We should take cover behind the trees! She can make a hundred of those in a second!"

"Oh crap you're right! They're already floating around her in an ominous amount! Tactical retreat!"

"You fools, there is no escape from the strongest!"

"Guys! Look!"

Everyone stopped what they are doing. They all looked at Daiyousei, who was at this point cheeks red and puffing and huffing from trying to get their attention.

"L-Look over there!" She pointed at the gray sky with a shaking finger. At first it was really hard to see; everyone had to squint their eyes, but they saw it: a red object with a flaming red trail was falling down from the skies, and from its trajectory, it's going to crash into them.

"W-Whoa! It's a rock! It's a rock from space!"

"Idiot! That's called a meteor!"

"Who's the idiot? It's called a meteoroid, 'cuz it's still burning up in the atmosphere and didn't land yet!"

"I don't care what it's called," Cirno interjected, "but I sure as hell ain't sticking around to find out if it survives the fall or not!."

The group of fairies panicked and tried to make a run for it, but the meteoroid got closer and closer until one of them thought they could compare its size with a mutant watermelon that was injected with all sorts of deathly genetic altering sequences without any thoughts of the consequences, just for the sake of making it as stupidly huge as possible. Though the fairies by this point had retreated far enough into the forest they were hiding in, they could feel the incredible hot air moments before the flaming rock made its impact in the Misty Lake.

The shock was deafening. As soon as the meteoroid landed, the water around it began to boil instantly. Even though the rock in truth was rather small, much smaller than what they thought they had saw, the crash created a crater the size of the lake itself. Little to no water survived the landing, those that did struggled to cling onto the now absolutely broiling earth, eventually evaporating into the thin air and returning to nature's cycle.

The meteorite also killed everything in its wake. The thriving ecosystem above, under, and around the lake were met with a hot, sizzling death. Bare remnants of fish skeletons scattered around the barren wasteland, and dead, dry stumps of trees crumbled in the cold, cold wind as the day's snow paid no mind to the destruction. And the wave of death truly did completely demolish Misty Lake as in both parts of the name. When the meteorite struck, almost all of the fog cleared away instantly, revealing a certain Mansion and the thick lush of trees around the lake before getting wiped out, mostly the latter.

Gensokyo is changing.

If this bizarre, unending snow was a soft and indistinct sign of warning, then the sudden and utter destruction of the Misty Lake, along with its culprit, the mysterious meteor, heralded the moment of change itself. The lake, and everything around it, was dead.

All, bar a group of fairies.

"So who's the idiot now." one of them sneered. "It lived from the impact, so it's called a meteoroid."

"You never said that. You called it a meteor."

"Grr, shut up, both of you!" It was Cirno who protected her friends from a certain fiery doom, and now she was starting to regret that decision a little. Having mustered all of her powers she was able to put up a barrier to shield them from the shock wave. Though Cirno is strong—something she deeply takes pride upon, perhaps too much so—she is only strong enough to be called so as a fairy. Even with her best, her barrier of ice barely held out. The heat wave ate away much of the shield that only a thin, dripping screen of slush was left.

"Hey, Cirno's melting!"

"Oh no, Cirno!" Daiyousei noticed how heavy her friend is sweating, so much she could tell it wasn't natural from the first glance. Having exerted so much of her power at once, Cirno had exhausted herself terribly. Cirno waved Daiyousei away, who, at the moment, seemed to be the only one that's genuinely worried.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll get better sooner or later in this weather anyways." She wiped her forehead with an arm, panting. "You guys owe me something. I don't know what, but you guys owe something real big."

The group of fairies, after a brief rest and had calmed down their nerves, decided to investigate the crash site, partly because they wanted to unravel the meteorite's mystery, but mostly because they had nothing better to do at the moment. Besides, the Misty Lake was their home. They had every right to poke around the accursed thing that had leveled the lake. Daiyousei once again inwardly sighed with relief, this time for the sake of others. She was immensely glad that they were the only fairies there, and that her other friends were all at some place else.

When they went up to the meteorite, they were largely disappointed. "What the heck?" One of them pointed at the rock. A tiny, pathetic rock that was about the size of their heads. "This thing blew up the lake?"

They wanted to pick it up and throw it, given its laughable size, but judging from its still sizzling surface and thin but imposing smoke coming out they held onto that thought until later when it's cooled. Atmospheric re-entry was surprisingly good at its job.

"H-Hey!" Cirno suddenly yelled, having noticed a strange red glow on the rock. "Get away from that! Something weird's happening!"

And indeed there was. The small meteorite, without warning, began to shake. Like an egg about to hatch the meteorite quivered. A final puff of smoke was emitted as the meteorite cracked open and split in half. Alarmed, the fairies stepped back.

"Cirno, this is…" Daiyousei's eyes widened at the phenomenon, as well as the creature that rested inside, sleeping like a baby unsuspectingly. Maybe it is a baby, judging by its miniature proportions. Whether it was fate or blind luck, the same that had saved the unsuspecting fairies, the thing inside had survived the crash.

"This is a…fairy?" Cirno squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of what is laid in front of her. Inside of the cracked meteorite was a tiny, sleeping fairy whose flaming hair and silky blouse matched the brilliant trail of flames her containment had as it sailed across the sky. If the fairies were not staring at one another by then, then they were staring at the alien baby, who napped peacefully without a care in the world she intruded.

"Damn. So this is the runt who's responsible for all this?"

"Seems so…what do we do now?"

Cirno cupped her chin, pondering as she observed the slumbering specimen who arrived in Gensokyo, if not with style. The ice fairy floated towards the meteorite, split open almost like a walnut, and stared down at the red fairy with her arms crossed, expression stern and cool. Her friends watched her with silent awe. Cirno was determined that she would give this newcomer a proper welcome in Gensokyo style.

It happened actually a lot quicker than Daiyousei and the others initially thought. The red, baby fairy, without warning, opened her sunset eyes, the first thing she saw was the pair of pale blue moons that were Cirno's. What could have woken her up? Daiyousei, having known Cirno the longest, has one theory: the ice fairy deliberately chilled the air inside of the meteorite-bed out of spite, just to annoy and provoke the grumpy young fairy who indeed came to a rude awakening.

"Goo…" the red fairy grumbled in a language only infants of her kind would understand "Boo!"

She cussed at Cirno, her eyes ablaze with passion and annoyance from having to wake up with her face almost frozen. Better yet, she found herself in the middle of a strange land, and _even_ better, it's snowing like crazy.

"Nice to meet you too," Cirno paid no heed to her infantile protests and continued to maintain her assured, dominant stance. "The name's Cirno, and I'm the strongest in Gensokyo. You see, you have just blown up the Misty Lake, which was our home."

 _Her wings of ice are expanding,_ Daiyousei noticed from the back. Was it simply growing naturally from the falling flakes of snow, or was it a sign of her agitation, which she had the unwilling privilege to witness more than a few times in the past?

"But being the goddess of mercy and compassion, which I also am, if your baby brain is too primitive to comprehend, I will offer you a chance to redeem yourself. A chance for repentance."

The red fairy muttered something under her breath as she sat in her meteorite shell, not exactly listening. Though even if she did, she wouldn't understand.

"What's that?"

"Burn…" But she did speak a word that is in their language.

"Burn? Hah, yo-"

"Burn!"

The red fiery pointed her palm at Cirno and from there unleashed a gigantic pillar of flame right into her face. Her first perfectly intelligible word spoken in her life was a command. A command to _ravage._

 **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"**

A sound no fairy should be able to make echoed throughout the remains of the Misty Lake. Even Hong Meiling, the youkai gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, heard it and had woken up from her sixth nap of the day. Which was quite a feat, considering the impact of the meteorite before did not stir her one bit.

The arrival of the flame fairy here eventually came to be remembered by most folks as the catalyst to the…revolution, in Gensokyo, if the human Miles Franson wasn't argued to be it. Cirno, the ice fairy who claimed to be the strongest of all, as well as self-appointed leader of the lesser youkai in Gensokyo, was the first to feel the effects of the change, but in a more immediate and hot way.

She collapsed on her back, the burning earth of the crater could not compare with the searing sensation on her face. It was as if she was standing right at the peak of a volcano and staring it down before it erupts completely. Her entire head was blackened, and her former cerulean hair was turned into a sizzling puff blackness.

The fairy of flame, after studying the result of her art, stood up from her shell but fell back down as her weak legs gave away to laughter, oh the terrible laughter, that mocked poor Cirno the Black as it echoed the barren wasteland formerly known as a lake. If Miles was present, he would have been reminded of the afro, a hair style popular in where he's from, mostly several decades ago but still a classic today.

* * *

"And this is _sake_ ," Alice pronounced the word written in black ink as her index finger pointed on the family cook book. " _Sake._ "

" _Sake._ " I followed it well, though mostly she for some reason chose words that I already knew.

"Good. _Sake_ is a type of fermented rice wine. You should know this because it's very popular here. _Very._ I should note that, if this sentence was written down, the 'very' would be italicized. That is how popular it is here."

I nodded vigorously, trying to convert my neutral expression into one that seemed more interested. Alice, however, noticed my struggle and sighed in response.

"You knew that one too, didn't you."

A second furious nod greeted her.

"Well, I suppose it would make this a bit easier with your prior knowledge." She sipped on her tea. "Still, color me surprised. You, for a foreigner, knew a lot of words, if a bit random, yet you have absolutely zero grasp on basic Japanese grammar principals."

Her English was so perfect sounding it was almost alien. Wendy was good, but not _this_ good. Only a non-native could speak this well without all the bits and scraps of slippery dirt a native speaker would otherwise have. But that's not the point here. She is true that, for the what, past thirty-something minutes since the beginning of my Japanese session, I had surprised her more than a few times with my bank of singular Japanese words I have picked up, mostly from their hit cultural sensations such as anime and their video games. Mostly random words I heard so much that they were engraved in my mind, such as _nani_ , which is what the villain of a show would say with undiluted shock when the main character emerged from a smoke cloud unscathed from their attack (vice versa applies), or _sekai_ , which I swear is spoken at least several times in every single J-Pop song I know.

But there was something weird about all this. There were some words she picked from her books that were foreign to me, well, foreign at the first hearing, but soon, after processing the words rather subconsciously, my brain actually had a vague idea of their definition. If she would, let's say, read out the word _hashi_ (chopsticks, she later explained), I wouldn't have any idea because I don't know it. But wait, a part of me do, because then I would get a hazy imagery that associated with that word, which was a pair of wooden sticks clicking together. It was like that experience with the _Kourindou_ sign yesterday.

If anything this strange manifestation was actually helpful during our mini-lesson. Along with my flexible if limited prior knowledge of words and Japanese culture, I plowed through the vocabularies and simple key grammar points with relative ease. Alice was rather impressed, though I never told her about this strange trait of mine, nor do I plan to anytime soon. I feel like this is something I have to figure out myself before anyone else could pitch in.

"You sure are a fast learner," she commented as I nailed another oral sentence recitation she made me to remember. "Are you sure you don't live in the Japan outside?"

"Nope. Well, I stayed there for like a month, but I didn't learn much."

"Fascinating. Now I believe we are done with the speaking portion of the lesson today, as your aptitude for linguistics was unexpected. Now, without further delay, let us begin with writing."

Actually I would like some delay. "Before that, please tell me you knew what was that about five minutes ago."

Alice closed the cooking book nonchalantly and her favored doll, Shanghai, took ahold of it and carried it away. "Nothing to worry about, if that's what you're asking."

I curled my lips and tried to say something, but I realized I had no place for such silly protests, especially since I'm a non-native here. Maybe it _is_ normal to hear a gigantic explosion out of nowhere and experience a followup mini-earthquake.

Okay, so there was a huge explosion five minutes ago. It went off somewhere far away, but it was so loud that I could still hear the ringing in my ears. I almost jumped up from my chair when it happened. The land then shook, likely an immediate aftereffect from the tremor, before I could do anything else. The dinner table in front of me started to vibrate, and everything fell in the kitchen. Fortunately Alice's army of dolls caught all the silverware as well as all the books on the shelves with synchronized finesse. The doll master herself sipped her tea calmly throughout all this.

Back to present. "So does that just happen all the time or…"

"I suppose. That was probably Marisa picking a fight with a **youkai** she shouldn't have." Alice replied.

Ba-thump. Ugh. What the hell was that? My heart practically pumped enough blood for the rest of my stay here when she said that word.

"I see." It's that word again. As soon as I heard it, my whole body tensed up, and an unknown source of nostalgia coursed through my veins. I have to know. "I've been hearing it ever since I came here, but what the bloody hell is a _youkai_?"

She pushed a finger to her lips and paused, as if trying to find a good place to start. "I was thinking of educating you on this, as well as some basic outlook on Gensokyo, when you're more adept with the language, but since you insist I suppose it wouldn't hurt. _Youkai_ , I believe when directly translated into the English you know and love, roughly means 'mystic apparition' or 'mysterious calamity'. But the human residents here simply refers it as anything strange or supernatural from their point of view."

"Strange and supernatural…what would be considered such in a place like this?"

"You'd be surprised, given that the humans here, particularly from the village, are actually sane, unlike quite a few…acquaintances I know. _Youkai_ , to put simply, is anything nonhuman. 'Monsters', if you will." Alice stressed on the last bit somewhat solemnly. "Though I suppose it is rather ironic given that most of the youkai do look like humans."

"So people like Remilia, the vampire, are _youkai?_ And Raymoo?"

"Remilia yes, since she is a vampire, though she's not from here originally. Reimu on the other hand is _not_ a youkai. Don't let her catch you saying that. She is human, though annoyingly strong for one."

"I see." Is it a just a label then? "Uh, do these youkai, like, you know, kill and eat people?"

"Yes, and no. Technically they have to for obvious biological reasons, but they are not allowed to do that in Gensokyo. At least not anymore. You're pretty much safe if you encounter one out there, but keep in mind they could still openly threaten you, not to mention acts of inflicting pain and torture isn't outright banned. Frowned upon, yes, but not illegal."

So was Remilia _really_ was going to eat me then? I have a feeling that all this time I have been toyed with...

"Since they all work for someone like her," I said "I'm guessing all of those servants from Remilia's place areyoukai as well?"

"All besides the fairies, they are a different type of creatures, and the one they call Sakuya Izayoi, who I am sure you have already met. She is a human, albeit with a rather troublesome ability."

"Teleportation?"

"Time stop."

I opened my mouth but closed it back again. "But how. What, but that's-"

"Impossible? I was, too, skeptical like you once upon a time, that is until when she had demonstrated the skill to me herself. No doubt about it: she could freely stop the flow of time with her discretion."

Everything made sense now. Those flashy movements she did back there weren't teleportation or super speed at all. Still, it's really hard to grasp this kind of thing. Magic is real? Eh, so it is. Vampires and oriental priestesses flying around having a death match? Scary, but I could get used to it.

"But seriously? Time stop? That's…that's overpowered as hell. Heck, with that power in her command she could have easily conquered the world. Or something." I wonder how am I still alive. Sakuya, the silver haired maid who insisted on letting me go, could have killed all of us without us knowing, even her garlic-hating master. She was the one who is truly dangerous.

"Indeed, it is rather an inconvenient ability to be placed in the hands of a human. How she's got it I do not know. I do not think any of us know. She is one of Gensokyo's biggest mysteries at the moment." Alice blew on her tea once and drank from it. "But she doesn't seem to abuse her time stopping power to its full extent. From what I have seen her usage of it is extremely limited, perhaps no more than several times a day. Maybe there is a certain amount on how she could use it? There is also the mystery of why is someone like her serving Remilia Scarlet, but that, Miles, is a speculation for another day."

I nod, but still I couldn't help but shudder. Time stop. That is a thing here. At this rate _nothing's_ going to surprise me anymore. To calm my nerves, even if just a little, I blew on the fragrant tea Shanghai brought for me and sipped it. Exquisite. Luckily, as Alice explained, Sakuya's something of an anomaly, so she is the only special snowflake here with the ability of disturbance of time and space.

Well, despite everything crazy happening in this place, Alice, as of so far, seems pretty nice, despite her sometimes distant personality. Could I trust her? Bit wait, based on how she speaks, though, particularly on the way she would refer to other humans, something tells me that one shouldn't automatically assume she and her human appearance are one thing.

"Um…" I placed the teacup down, careful on maintaining nervous eye contact.

"Speak, if you have something to say."

"Please don't take any offense, but are you a youkai as well?"

I half expected her to perform a spit-take with the tea, so when there was no warm gush of liquid splashing over my face I opened my eyes and saw her face froze, if it wasn't already ice cold in the first place.

"Yes, I am." She said it without any emphasized emotion whatsoever. "Are you afraid?"

"Um. Yes, I suppose." _Please don't kill me,_ I didn't add.

To me surprise she smiled, and I could tell right away that kind of smile is going to be rare from now on. "There is no need to be. I have no qualms with other humans nor have much interest in them. And besides, Reimu had placed you in my care. There is not much I could do to protest about that. If it makes you feel better," she added "I used to be human once."

I'm not sure if that does at the moment, or what it actually means, but I'm just glad that Alice is friendly. At least she says she is. Can I finally relax now?

"…So, I'll take your current silence as a hint to resume our lesson. Be glad that I had chosen to help you out." Shanghai then tugged her arm. Two of her marionette subordinates followed, each carrying an object. "I see you have felt the need to return our guest's belongings, Shanghai." Alice blew on her tea.

"Uh..." I immediately reached into my pockets. Nothing. So somehow last night Alice/Shanghai/both of them had taken away my cell phone and my deck of cards. Well, it's not like they were astronomically important to my survival.

"No need to be alarmed. It was sort of a security measure, since, 'don't take any offense', while I do have managed to raise my tolerance around Marisa these years, some of her acquaintances can be rather…rude, especially in my house." Alice flicked a finger on her teacup, producing a pleasant _ding_ onomatopoeia, though I assume it's not meant to be so satisfying for those she had in mind when she did that. "Here, you could have these back. I am not so unrefined as to the unmentioned by going through the belongings of my guests, but it was necessary. I hope you understand. Also I have no idea what that dark metal block of yours is, but the deck of cards seems rather intriguing. The drawn characters on them are bit out of my taste though."

"That is a cell phone," I took back my belongings from her dolls, who then tipped their tiny dresses gracefully and returned back to work. "It's a device for communicating across long distances, but…yeah I can't use it right now since it's out of batteries."

"Batteries? You mean those…fortified barrels that shoots explosives? Hm, no wait, if I remember correctly, batteries meant something else from the outside world. Ah yes, were they those little pieces of metal that contain electricity?"

My eyes lit up, but the sparks died down after a brief moment of thought. "Well, yes, but regular batteries wouldn't work. I need a charger, a, uh, wire-like thing to plug into this hole right here so it could work again." Sort of like a doll, now I've noticed.

"Is that so," Alice squinted her eyes on my phone's lifeless touchscreen. Man, if only I had one of those fancy solar chargers right now. "That's interesting. Things from the outside world always appear to be so. I'm sure the _kappa_ would love to see your gadget."

I blinked. " _Kappa?_ "

"They are a type of water youkai. Very shy and secluded, since they live up in the Youkai Mountain, but they always were fascinated with technology from the outside world and had even developed some of their own. Which reminds me, Marisa has a friend who is a _kappa,_ who I believe goes by the name Nitori. I could ask her to bring her here next time, to fix that device of yours."

"Thanks, but even if it was fixed it still wouldn't work. Not its intended function anyways, since there's no service here."

"A pity. So it seems that technology don't always prevail in the end." And while Shanghai brought in another few books as well as several writing utensils for our upcoming studying session, Alice herself studied by deck of UNO cards from across the table. "What about this, then?"

"This," I tapped the cards "is entertainment from the outside. UNO is what we call it."

"How do you play it?"

"It's very similar to poker, if you know what that is."

"You mean those red and black cards? I have seen Mr. Rinnosuke playing it with Marisa some time ago."

"Well, it's like that."

Shanghai laid the books on the table, next to Alice's arm. Alice in turn held her chin and looked like if she was having a hard time trying to decide something. In the end she did. "I have to say, it's not very often to come across items from the outside world, and it's entertainment at that. You'll have to understand, Miles, that if you have lived in this place as long as I did, boredom would at one point become your very worst enemy." She pushed the books aside. "A small break wouldn't hurt. I am curious. Please explain the rules."

I smiled and gathered the cards back up, shuffling them like the pro I am. "Very well." She has no idea, doesn't she?

While Alice is deciding on her first move as she arranged her seven cards in order, I couldn't help but think about what she had explained. No doubt the monsters Wendy once spoke in her dreams were the youkai _,_ and I have already spent a day meeting them face to face for real. It helps knowing what the word finally means, but this feeling in my heart refuses to subside. Just what is this powerful and unknown feeling I have for the word? Or was it for those that the meaning applies to? Are all of them are cruel and evil? Alice here, it seems, simply wanted to spend her days in peace. And the humans here, what do they think of the youkai? Do they bear a hatred for them, from generations of grudge as for the uncountable years of preying and killing the youkai had contributed to?

I want to meet them. I want to meet these humans at one point after I learn how to speak Japanese, and I want to inquire on what exactly makes them human in this eccentric land that a mentally ill girl once had visited.


	28. Day 2 - I

**Day 2 - I**

* * *

 _It's this place again._

 _I've been here for who knows how long, but every time I open my eyes this place still manages to dazzle me with its brilliance. I could get used to all this pink..._

 _Behind me laid the sturdy trunk of the gargantuan cherry blossom. My first instinct and notion was to turn around and gaze at it in its full glory, but something right there made me stop._

 _It was the two little girls who stood watching me ever since the beginning of this sequence of dreams. Until now, where they stood was distant, and their pitiful glances were casted at me full times. This time was different. One of the two girls, a girl with short pink hair, as pink as the blossoms here, muttered something under her breath. She was too far away to be heard, but her lips...I could read them._

 _"_ Oto-san... _" her lips formed "_ Oto-san... _"_

 _What?_

* * *

Ugh. A chilly gust blew into my covers from a tiny spot I somehow left vulnerable. Who the hell opened up the windows?

 _But what was that..._ I stared into the endless white, contemplating the vision just before it slips away from my consciousness. That little girl...did she always say _oto-san_ before? Why...why that word?

 _Oto-san_ , as a part of my proud prior knowledge on Japanese, is a way of saying father. Dad, father, pops. Why was she saying that? Did she _actually_ say that? Was she calling for her father, as she, and perhaps the another girl next to her, was lost in that beautiful place? Or was it...

* * *

"I see you are up. Good morning, Miles."

"Good morning."

A plate of mysteries bacon, eggs, and muffin was waiting for me by the dinner table. A Victorian breakfast to match a Victorian housing. Alice did her usual thing as I poked the breakfast with a fork: a nice hot cup of tea by her side as she studied her book.

"Hey, what's that about?" I said after I took a swallow of the suspicious breakfast. The stuff wasn't too bad. In fact it was pretty good, it's just that the bacon tasted kind of different. Is it even pork? "You've been reading that book since I came here."

"Books aren't written to be finished within a span of a day and a night, Miles," the marionettist replied coldly, but her tone thawed considerably after a sip of her tea. "It's fine, I assume this is the first time you've ever seen this."

Alice held up the tome up with one hand. It's thick, stupidly thick. At least a thousand pages. "This is a grimoire."

"A magic tome, right?"

"Impressive. You know your study of the arcane well, despite your claims as an outsider."

We stared at one another, not speaking for a bit.

"Well? Not going to ask me if I would let you take a look?"

"Nope. Not interested. I don't think I could read the language anyways. It's not Japanese, right?"

"No, it's Latin, a language almost as old as some of the governors of Gensokyo here." She flicked her red framed reading glasses. "You're...indubitably polite, at least, compared to the others who come here. Usually the guests I receive, expected or the otherwise, would poke around the house without permission."

"Um...It's just basic etiquette." I scratched my head, not really sure on what to say.

"Is that so. Your society must be really refined, then. I would like to pay a visit one day, if possible."

* * *

Miles did not even have the time to object against Alice's wild suggestion. Someone rapped against the front door loudly, as if trying to tear it down.

"Speak of the devil," Alice sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose and went for the door. Miles scooted behind quietly and watched them speak behind the corner of the hallway. It turned out to be Marisa, and she was breathing in and out pretty hard. Does flying actually take stamina? Even though Miles had glimpsed only the tip of the iceberg of the language that is Japanese, he understood what they are saying pretty well.

"...the lake blew up?"

"Yeah, you heard that boom yesterday right? The lake's gone. All of it."

"I thought that was just you. You and some...oni, I suppose?"

"What? Why the hell would I-"

"Are you sure you are not messing with me?" Alice felt that this has happened before. Marisa, the bearer of strange news. Well, in the witch's defense, Alice doesn't go outside very often, so like a good friend she often brings her the latest gossip.

"You think I would mess with you? Actually don't answer that. Anyways, you've got to check this out. I heard the entire Youkai Mountain's in uproar right now. Reimu's rich, and now the lake's blown up. Gensokyo's gone mad, I say."

Alice Margatroid looked back at Miles. She considered the possibility of touring around the dead lake. After all, this was major collateral damage. The lake is, or now rather, was one of the primary source of fresh water for not just the youkai in Gensokyo, but the humans as well. No doubt there would already be a mass of people there, mortal or not. Perhaps the Hakurei shrine maiden herself as well.

In the end Alice decided to go and gestured Shanghai to bring her tome from the kitchen. As she took off her reading glasses and sat down the front ledge to put on her boots, she said to Miles " _I'm going out for a bit. Stay in the house._ " He nodded slowly. " _Did you understood what we said, by the way?_ "

" _I understood a little. Something about a lake. Did something happen?_ "

Alice moved her eyes to the attention of tying her laces, considering on trying to keep him away from the disaster. " _Nothing much, no. I'll be back. Ask Hourai if you need anything._ " And with that, the puppeteer with her trusty doll exited the house alongside her black hatted friend, who wore a considerably more warm outfit today as a response to the snow that never seemed to stop.

Almost as soon as the door was shut, a flying doll, same in the pretty, synthetic blonde hair her sisters have but wearing a tiny crimson red dress and head ribbon floated up to Miles, eyes curious. _This must be Hourai,_ thought. " _Hey,_ " he greeted her in English, then decided on trying to hone his Japanese for bit, since a doll don't judge at your mistakes as much as its master. He immediately thought of something to do. "Think you can...uh, show me the house? Anywhere allowed...yeah."

"Hourai, hourai!"

He took that as a yes.


	29. Day 2 - II

**Day 2 - II**

* * *

The persistence of the snow is something residents of Gensokyo grumble, and in due time, marvel at. Its invasion is one of a kind. Though it has only been only the third day, Gensokyo was already reeling from the endless white, those that were free falling from the skies.

But somewhere, at one corner of Gensokyo, there exists a location that enjoyed leniency from the snow that the rest of the realm would envy upon. To to be precise, the Netherworld is not a part of Gensokyo itself-only the border that leads to it serves as a connection between the two is-but nevertheless this land of the dead was not so so much as bothered by the cold than the living.

Atop a rather mortal and structurally functioning architecture on the very peak of a mind-boggling set of gray stone steps, a young servant stepped out onto the dry-rock garden of the Japanese styled mansion, searching for her master.

"Lady Yuyuko?"

She was short, slightly below the average height of a normal girl, but her physique was very well fit from her daily swordsmanship training. Her clean cut hair, a bouncing silver bobcut, welcomed the occasional flakes of snow as they seemly vanished when falling into it. She thought that it was strange to suddenly snow here, but she had no idea on how big it was in Gensokyo when compared to the gentle wisps in the Netherworld.

"Lady Yuyuko? Where are you? Dinner is ready." She looked around, wondering where her mistress might wander off to. It is a rare sight to see Yuyuko Saigyouji to be absent for a mealtime. The young servant was quite baffled when she saw the plates were untouched.

When there was no signs of her mistress in the dry-rock garden, the servant, Youmu, entered the more extravagant one at the back of the mansion, the one filled with alluring cherry blossoms. It is a rather mystical and powerfully enchanting garden, for the blossoms, not a bit bothered by the snow, stretched on as far as the eye could see in between a small pathway. The sight is breathtaking to behold. Breathtaking, but not perfect.

The pathway eventually lead to a small cliff, which itself served as a bird's eye view for a large portion of the visible Netherworld. By the edge of this cliff stood a tall and gigantic tree. What sets it apart from its sisters from the pathway is that this tree is completely disrobed: its branches are empty and its dryness, despite the melting of the soothing snow, was never parched. The tree is dead. A dead tree in the realm of the dead, it now served as an ambiguous reminder to those that knew of the incident years ago, of a failed attempt to achieve an unreachable beauty and perfection.

A lone figure stood in front of the tree, gazing upwards at its branches. Dressed in a ghastly pink kimono, her eyes perceived something in the tree. Something new.

"There you are, Lady Yuyuko," Youmu approached her mistress from behind. "I've been looking for you. Your dinner is ready."

A white blob of apparition floated behind the servant, its long, white serpentine-like tail wiggling a few times. Though it bears a striking similarity to an abundance of the phantasmal denizen in the Netherworld, this spirit is actually a part of Youmu herself: her alternate identity, her other self. Hailing as the latest and possibly the last member of the twin-bodied Konpaku clan, she sometimes found herself lonely in not just this world, but Gensokyo as well. It is a good thing that her master, Yuyuko, shared a similar circumstance, or at least, half of it.

"Ah, Youmu..." Yuyuko, a deceased human since who knows how long, now a ghost, noticed her faithful servant, though that is not without some considerable delay in her reaction. She was fixated on the tree. Perhaps, Youmu had noticed, too much of so. It beared the name of Saigyou Ayakashi, or in a very general sense, the Youkai Tree of Saigyou. Something's not right about the dead tree. No, is it dead? Youmu's ghost half suddenly shuddered. Its high sensitivity in the spiritual plane detected a strange sensation coming from the tree.

"Can you see it, Youmu?" Yuyuko, in a daze, turned to her servant. "The Saigyou Ayakashi. It's blooming."


	30. Day 2 - III

**Day 2 - III**

* * *

The dead of the night. The human village slept with a deep, tranquil silence, the kind of silence that only exists because of the comfort of knowing the safety behind the walls, as well as the under the leadership of the past rulers. Only several paper lampposts dimly lit the cold, snow-ridden streets.

A cold wind howled through the windows. The snow had grown to a point that it had long lost its novelty and now a nuisance to the people, piling up on the streets and making them wear warmer than the usual in this time of the year. People begun shoveling, but eventually they found out it was fruitless work. The only ones who truly enjoyed all this snow are not human.

Takeyoshi, who lived in his father's shadow as the son of the village chief without a complaint, sat cross-legged in his room alone, inside of his family's mansion. Only a candle by his work desk dimly lit the shadows obstructing his view. Late night calligraphy. It was a "parting and post-graduation gift" from his former teacher Keine after him bumping into her on the streets today. If only he knew what was going to happen when he decided to say hi. He deeply regrets on admitting that he hasn't been practicing what his teacher thought was his most skilled area all those years.

After finishing the last stroke of the last kanji, Takeyoshi put down the brush and stood up, stretching as he yawned. It's getting late. There is still a lot for him to do in place of his missing father tomorrow. The townsfolk needs his guidance with the snow and the trouble with the sudden cut-off of the river.

"Mmm, it is nigh time to catch a wink, methinks." he mumbled, mocking the ancient style of prose he was forced to copy for the past three hours. He rose up to clear away the table, but the howling wind don't seem to agree. It suddenly roared ferociously, battering against his screen windows. There must have been a torn hole on them, because a small puff of cold, shivering gust snuffed out the candle by his desk, and everything turned dark again...

Or so he had initially thought. The snow cloud had blocked out the sun and moon for the days it had formed, but he thought he'd saw a glistering spot of moonlight shining on the tatami floor mat, not too far away from his desk. The chilling wind blew again, this time into his eyes. When Takeyoshi opened them again, there was a silhouette of a person by the patch of moonlight, but not so overly into it as all but their face were visible. The figure was tall, very tall, and seemed to wear a dark green hakama, alongside a pair of thick light gray trousers. By the right hip they carried a single sword, but no hands were placed on it, signaling the absence of hostility...but Takeyoshi took that for granted, did he?

He gulped, stumbling back, trying to make sense of what's going on. Who was this person that had appeared before him? They had a katana...were they assassins, aiming to kill the son of the chief? But no, why would they do that? Why would anyone do that in Gensokyo? There is just no benefit from it, only remorse and eventual disorder from the people. The human village, if no leaders were to replace him and his father, would crumble, and Gensokyo's stability would collapse. Surely this assassin, whoever they are, weren't after his life?

Assassin or not, there was something about this person that stopped Takeyoshi from immediately running away and call his servants for help.

Those garments were of a traditional samurai outside of battle, and he had seen them before, many times. There aren't many people who wore like that in Gensokyo now. That dark, moss green outfit, and that midnight black sword, exquisitely forged with golden tipped guard and grip. Out of all places to walk down the memory lane, it had to be now. Takeyoshi reminisced the times with his father's friend, Youki Konpaku, who carried him on his shoulders as a child, walking down the rice fields as his young granddaughter escorted them, holding onto his precious sword with both arms and naïve determination.

As if answering to the silent question posed by his nostalgia, the figure in moonlight stepped forward, their face unveiled. There, in the revealing ray, Takeyoshi widened his eyes. The figure was an old, but not feeble man, whose white hair hung down to his torso by a thin ponytail. His long, wise beard of the same color cannot boast of the length of his tail, but nevertheless portrayed his experience. Over his right eye a deep, jagged scar sliced across it vertically, a trophy earned and a price paid for walking the path of the sword. Takeyoshi's mind immediately registered this grizzled veteran of life as the same one who had carried him by the rice fields, as well as the same one who had seemly disappeared almost ten years ago from his life.

"Uncle Youki?" Takeyoshi's was finally able to speak. "Is that...is that really you?"

Youki's mahogany eyes, which were almost as cold and imposing as the blizzard outside, seemed to have softened by a considerable degree, a response to the handsome young man whom the village girls adored. "Indeed, Take, it is I, Youki of the Konpaku clan." From his behind a large, swirling and semi-transparent white blob slithered into view, a foolproof symbol of being a member of near-extinct Konpaku.

"That's the...it is really you then! Where have you been? Father said you were dead, but I don't think I've ever believed that." Takeyoshi walked over to his childhood hero with a fastened pace, but Youki's voice, as sudden and powerful as thunder, ordered him to stop.

"Halt! Just a minute, Take." Youki's deep and sharp command struck him like a flash of his swordsmanship. "I wish to see your father. Where is he?"

"Father?" Takeyoshi looked down to the tatami mat of his room. Everyone had business with his father, so when he had disappeared like Youki he was asked the same question over and over again from different people who claimed they were important enough to have a personal audience with his father and not his successor. "Father's been missing for quite a while now, Uncle Youki. Actually I was thinking you would know of his whereabouts. The village is difficult to run by myself, if I have to say." He smiled and scratched the back of his head.

The temporary chief of the human village was met with a prolonged silence, which was broken just as when he had thought of something to say.

"I see." The cold wind from before reappeared, brushing into Takeyoshi's face as Youki's voice became distant by the second. "I will find your father, Takeyoshi. I will."

When he opened his eyes, Youki was gone, and so was the patch of moonlight coming in from the windows. He slammed them tight. There were no torn holes at all. The adolescent stood over his work table, where his completed work of calligraphy greeted him. The strange encounter with the swordsman who went missing without a trace a decade ago, was that all just a hallucination? The encounter felt so surreal, like the wind, the moonlight. Only one thing was left behind as solid evidence of Youki Konpaku's appearance: his booming, thunderous voice. It managed to stay in his head, loud and clear. Quick as one of his demonstrations of sword techniques Takeyoshi had witnessed as a child, Youki Konpaku reappeared before him tonight, and again, disappeared.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, planning to leave all the thinking for the day that comes tomorrow. Maybe he was just too tired.


	31. Day 3 - I

**Day 3 - I**

* * *

Alice returned at around the noon yesterday. Her doll that was charged to look after me, Hourai, had agreed to tour me around the house. Bar the off limits areas, such as Alice's bedroom and a few other places, the house mostly accessible, though I did saw place that I don't think I should have. Hourai, perhaps unwittingly, drifted down a flight of staircase leading to a dark basement. When I followed it (her?) down I could barely make out what was there with the darkness. I definitely saw a lot of inactive dolls though, sitting on metal shelves with her eyes closed as if emulating sleep. Neatly laid next to each doll were weapons and equipment. Swords, spears, and shields of their size, tiny enough to fit in those mechanical palms of theirs.

I admit, it was creepy in there. Being around those dolls in that dusty and deathly silent place gave me the heebie jeebies. I had the unconscious fear of them suddenly opening their eyes and attack me. So before I turned around and practically crawled up the stairs, my happy little tour guide Hourai tugged my arm and wanted to show me something. Despite my panic-induced protests, it dragged me further into the darkness of the basement. When my eyes were adjusted to the looming darkness, I made out something huge in front of me. A gigantic head of a doll, lying on the floor sideways, its cracked eyes staring right at me. The head must have been as tall as the basement ceiling itself. Aside from the gargantuan size, it looked pretty much like the rest of its sisters: blue eyes, pale skin, and long, flowing synthetic hair. There were also arms, legs, and a torso of proportionate size to the giant head scattered across the floor lifelessly, as if they were the dismembered body parts of the poor victim whose head this belonged to.

Logic made me realize that the body parts weren't the results of some sick experiment Alice dumped in her basement; they were simply discarded parts for this seemly giant doll, now out of use and decommissioned. My instincts, however, took priority, and it told me to _get the fuck outta here._

And so to end this little expedition I ran for my dear life. Hourai followed me soon after. I don't know what exactly I had seen down there, but maybe I shouldn't tell Alice about it. My guess was that it served as a storage room for obsolete or backup dolls. When Alice came back yesterday I was seriously worried that Hourai would tattle-tale on me, but it didn't. It simply greeted her master alongside a few of her sisters, those glad in a maid uniform of a darker color.

* * *

I woke up to find the snow outside much heavier than yesterday. It looked pretty bad. Can you even walk in all that anymore? Shanghai, like the previous days, came into my room and escorted me downstairs to the kitchen after a quick morning brush up. As usual, Alice is sitting there with her tea, though she is reading something other than her ancient Latin tome. I sat in front of my breakfast, which today was a cup of orange juice and several pancakes. Looks normal, yes, but again I am certain that the ingredients are suspicious. But I ate anyways, and while I enjoyed the surprisingly delicious texture of the pancakes I inquired on what Alice was reading. It was a piece of paper that looked strangely familiar.

"Hey, what are you reading?"

"Oh, good morning Miles." She looked up from the paper, which had so much creases that it looked like it was unfolded from a crumpled ball. "Marisa handed me this yesterday. She said this was the poem that you wrote while at Remilia's mansion."

I stopped chewing.

"It is most certainly an excellent piece, if I have to say. You certainly grasped the essence of imagery in the stanzas. They were vivid, deeply so. Are you a poet by profession?"

No. No no no no no no, no. This can't just happen like that.

"I...You..." My hands shook, but I managed to slowly snatched the paper away from her hands, which she allowed with confusion. It's definitely that poem I wrote back there all right.

The visions of the poetry invaded me, but I did not take my time and soak in the imagery, instead they were rejected and I'm more worried about on how I will break the news.

No. This can't happen. I wouldn't allow anyone else to die at by hands after Wendy. Now that I think back about it, even Remilia did not deserve dying like this, no matter the maliciousness she treated me with. Hell, she can't die even if I wanted her to, because for some reason she wasn't...

I accidentally thought out my surprise, which was a sound mixed with an "Oh" and an "Ah".

Alice regarded me with more confusion. "What's happened to you?"

"Sorry Alice," I said, "I was being a bit weird. You see, it's kind of embarrassing for me to have someone read that. I wrote there right on the spot and I didn't exactly had a chance to revise and edit. It's a raw first draft, and it's filled with mistakes, like spelling errors."

"Did it? I do not recall any spelling mistakes. In fact, I did not remember seeing anything that broke me from the immersion of your poem. It was..." she closed her eyes, drawing back the imagery, "...simply perfect."

"Right."

"But I understand." Somehow I could feel her sharp eyes gazing through me, knowing that I was hiding something from her. "Everyone tends to feel nervous about their receptions. I'm not much different. Every time I visit the human village for a puppet show I could feel the gazes of the children, curious and impatient."

Later after a silent and thoughtful breakfast I excused myself upstairs to the room Alice lent me during my stay here, bringing the piece of paper with me. I couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh upon closing the door. If what I'm thinking is correct, there is a chance that Alice would not die. It was probably the same reason why Remilia wasn't visually affected by my poem. Though I wasn't there to witness my previous victims' deaths firsthand, I was there when they read my work (besides Wendy, I wasn't present at the time but I'm pretty sure she had it as well). Every single one of them entered this hypnotized trance. Every single time. So the sight of Remilia not giving a fuck was as unnatural as seeing a man walking stark naked on the streets to me. There must be something out there preventing her dying, and I think it could be applied to Alice as well. But what? What made Remilia Scarlet so different among the poor souls who pleased my former, wicked self?

I came up with several reasons, and they all fit in the same category: the presence of the supernatural. She is a vampire, or in this case, a youkai. Everyone else before her was human. Maybe it's because that the youkai are immortal they are not influenced by me. Or maybe they don't have to be a youkai. What if just being in Gensokyo makes you immune to something like this? Either way, it's something that I have no control over. I will have to see personally whether or not something will happen to Alice over the next few days. I'll have to ask her if she felt anything during her initial reading as well.

How interesting, I thought. Looks like I'm finding something new about this place everyday.

* * *

"Miles," Alice said by her usual spot at the kitchen table when I came down, my poem already got rid of. "Tell me how you ended up here."

"Excuse me?"

"How you got to Gensokyo, I mean. Of course I know how you came to my house. I'm just curious of how you managed to get past the barrier that separates the two worlds. Marisa did not inform me of this, but she probably didn't know either."

"Barrier?" I sat across from her. It should be our daily Japanese lesson at this time. "I didn't get through any barrier, but I did get in here by something else."

"Would you care to explain? And in full details, if possible."

"Okay." It had only been in truth only several days, but it felt such a long time to me, ever since that eventful day which began at Sumireko's penthouse. "So I was sitting by a fireplace when all of a sudden I got a idea to burn one of my books. Don't ask me why."

"Why?"

I sighed. "Well, let's just say that I _really_ disliked it."

"Go on."

"So I tossed it in the fireplace, when all of a sudden some kind of 'eye' opened up in the middle of the fire. It wasn't actually an eye, but it sure as hell looked like one. When it 'opened' itself, it contained an endless void. It looked like staring at the vast space through a hole. There were actual individual eyes floating around, staring back at me. Creepy, if I must add. Then it sucked me in like a vacuum."

"As I thought. From that description, there is only one person in Gensokyo that is associated with those 'eyes'." Alice's trademark pokerface, a neutral base that served as her normal expression, morphed into a bit of a frown. I'm more surprised that she knew what a vacuum is, honestly. Unless she was educated about astronomy in this seemly backwards place. "Yukari Yakumo."

"Remilia mentioned that person too, but who are they, really?"

"She...let's just say she is the one pulling the strings behind most things in Gensokyo. I suspect the lake was her doing as well. While I do not know her personally as well as Reimu, I do know that she is a dangerous and unpredictable youkai who has watched over Gensokyo ever since its creation. As far as I know, her ability is the only loophole for the otherwise impenetrable Hakurei Barrier."

"Tell me about this Hakurei Barrier. It sounds important."

"You better believe it is." She sipped a cup of tea. "The Great Hakurei Barrier is constructed by Reimu's ancestors, the one who saved you. The purpose of this barrier was to separate Gensokyo from the world outside, in order to preserve the youkai, who are starting to die out due to the humans."

"They got that much powerful by then?"

"No, not that much anyways, but it's their established 'common sense' that is killing off the youkai. This 'common sense' states that all supernatural phenomenons do not exist, and if they somehow do, it must be explained by science and rational thought. I believe it's still prevalent out there, is it not?"

"Yes, it yes. So I'm assuming the scientists are like, the most powerful of humans then?"

"In a way, yes. Youkai feasts on the concept of faith, and survives it on. If one chose to not 'believe', then it would affect them greatly. Imagine one day everyone began thinking that you don't exist, and any traces of hint and evidence that you do are dismissed."

"...I actually saw that happening to someone. It was just a huge prank though. Everybody got in trouble."

"And how do you suppose that person who was denied of their existence must have felt?"

"Hmm." I thought about it before, but this is the first time that I analyzed that old prank I saw done to a classmate in high school. Everybody pretended that he was dead, and ignored him when he came by. "It must have been devastating. The poor kid."

"Well, it's the same for the youkai, but on a much worse level. The 'disbelief' actually affects their physical existence. They would disappear into nothingness if this 'disbelief' gets too strong at any point. So Gensokyo was established, in order to protect the youkai from completely disappearing. The Great Hakurei Barrier serves as the border between the two worlds. The humans could have their own world, while the youkai enjoyed not being denied of their existence and preyed on the small human population, who almost posed zero threat."

"Almost."

"Well, Marisa was born from the village, or so I heard her accidentally say one day."

"So Gensokyo is basically a huge zoo?" If that is the case, then it would also explain why would the humans chose to save dangerous, man-eating youkai. It would be like saving bears or tigers. Nature, ahoy.

"Zoo?"

"A place where endangered beings gets preserved from certain extinction and gets gawked by humans."

Alice thought about it for a moment. I wouldn't exactly call my definition of a zoo too accurate, since the humans are actually in control. It sounded like this human village was more like the zoo to the youkai. Or is it us in the outside world who are in charge here?

"Perhaps. Your world certainly has interesting things."

"Well, the things getting preserved are locked up in cages though. The humans could gawk at them with safety."

"But this 'cage' is something most youkai desire. There are still many youkai living in the outside world, and over the years quite a lot of them had moved willingly in this 'zoo'."

I nodded. This place is rather fascinating. I would have to think a lot about this later.

"Right," I decided to get back on the topic of my forced arrival, as I feel it's more important here. "So since this Yukari person is the only one would could get around this border, that would only mean she's the one who got me here, right? But...why? Is there a reason to drag in someone like me?"

"Me? I don't have a clue, but based on the persona that Reimu constantly spoke of when Yukari was brought up, I assume she must have done it for fun."

"Remilia said that too. Is this Yukari person that bored?"

"Well, Miles, I wouldn't blame her."

* * *

It's decided that, when Reimu recovers, we will ask her to converse with Yukari and find out what she wants about me. So far this Yukari person had left me alone during my time in Gensokyo. According to Alice, she's not exactly "evil", at least not in the conventional way. My best guess for her worming me here was that she wanted to watch Man Vs. Wild, Gensokyo Edition, and so far, in my opinion as the survivor, it hasn't been very fun. She must have been also the one who had summoned that large wormhole beneath me and Reimu the other day, which helped us to escape to safety...which, from this act, makes things more confusing.

"By the way, Alice," I noticed a few of her dolls washing the dishes. "Are you all right? You don't seem to eat or ingest in anything aside from that tea you drink all day. You are not on a diet, are you?"

She glared at me.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just curious. Don't you have to eat other humans as a youkai?"

"Do you want me to eat you?"

"No. Please don't."

"Then I wouldn't. In all seriousness, a youkai could fast for a long time, if that's what you're asking. I believe eating once a year is enough to sustain them." She said. "If it's possible, I would still prefer the normal food humans eat. Old habits die hard, you know? I still enjoy a cup of evening tea and a plate of biscuits from time to time."

"Don't worry, you're already consuming half of that everyday."

"It's rather handy to have a youkai body, if you ask me. Obvious biological immortality aside, since you don't need to eat much, you'll save a lot of money from the food you would otherwise have to buy. Water is all you need, really." But Alice seemed to be troubled when she said that. Her eyebrows furrowed and she squinted her eyes at me blankly, as if concentrating on a thought. It took Shanghai several tugs on her arm to get her attention back to Gensokyo. "Well, I'd say you had learned quite a lot today, so how about we get on your Japanese lesson? Ah, but before that, I would like to take another try at that card game. I do admit, it is rather entertaining."

"Oh? You mean UNO?"

She nodded, her eyes lit with subtle anticipation. I smiled. It looked like I, an envoy of the outside world, had successfully converted a native Gensokian into UNOlism.

"A distraction from our troubles, Alice. Very well, try as you might, you will not beat me! The few that were able to are currently resting in the Shadow Realm."


	32. Day 3 - II

**Day 3 - III**

* * *

Marisa Kirisame helplessly sneezed from the weather. She rubbed her nose and concentrated on flying towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion. As the shattered Misty Lake came into the view below, its barren wasteland struck Marisa as a source of awe. Though the snow is strong, perhaps dangerously so, it still took a great matter of time before it covers the crater completely. What could have leveled this entire area in one day? The answer, as she and a lot of the people who visited the site might have guessed, was the strange rock that lied in the dead center of the huge crater, split wide open.

A sizable crowd scattered across the crater below, though comparatively a fraction of what was here yesterday. Now it was mostly fairies and lesser youkai, but a few tengu as well, alongside one or two poor humans mixed within. Marisa felt sorry for the lake and its residents. The creatures that lived here has no home now. All the natural wildlife, the strange, indescribable amphibians, and the various lake youkai that dwelled beneath the former lake were all dead, massacred by the unstoppable force of nature, if it was familiar enough to be considered as part of Earth's nature in the first place. But at the same time, a sort of excitement coursed through her. With something as big as this, surely an incident will follow through. It's been almost more than a year since the last one. As Reimu's practically incapacitated from her bout at the Mansion, this one was a free grab for Marisa.

The majestic waterfall, with the Youkai Mountain being the source, was unharmed by the shock wave of the fall. Though it still poured with the same vitality as it always had, the water just wasn't enough to refill the lake. They seem to evaporate when for some odd reason. Not rapidly, but gradually. The water never made it past the split rock in the center, and so the waterfall poured in vain, despite its vigor.

The mansion came into view. Tall, red, and mighty. Like the waterfall, its perfect, near-pristine condition might suggest that the crash of the strange rock never happened. The edges of its crater met roughly only a few meters away from the front gate. It was hard to tell now from the harsh snow, but the clock tower on the roof showed it was just a minute past high noon.

Marisa considered her usual tactic: crashing into one of the scarlet windows at a high velocity and leave with the loot before they knew what was going on. Hit-and-run generally worked on unexpected days, and today appeared to be one.

"All righty, Patchy's better have books 'bout boulders from the sky." Marisa licked her lips and prepared to accelerate her broomstick at her record of highest speed possible.

"Not going to happen!"

"Who the—whoa!"

A stream of rainbow colored orbs shot up underneath her. She immediately swerved to the right, barely evading the ambush.

Marisa looked down at the spot where it had came from. "Whoa, now _this_ is unexpected..."

Hong Meiling, the (hired) gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, glared at her from below, hands on her hips. She had long flowing red hair with two braids at the front. The dark green dress of silk she wore is a fashion reminiscent of the neighboring culture she belongs to, and so does the beret she wore of the same color, with a gold star on the front bearing the Traditional Chinese character for "dragon". Being a youkai, the cold weather didn't bother her that much, as opposed to Marisa the Human.

"Where do you think you're going, Marisa?" Meiling yelled from below.

"What's this? Yer actually awake? Hey, I'm not the one dreaming here, am I?"

"Take one more step and you will receive the wrath of the mansion's dragon!" Meiling blinked. "A centimeter to the front actually, since you're flying. You know what I mean."

"You sure are working hard." Marisa said in a louder volume that could not be completely considered as a yell. The distance between them did not help with the occasional roaring of the snow. "Even in this freak weather you stay vigilant. Just how much is that vampire paying you?"

"Not much, sadly." Meiling replied. "Wait, what are you trying to say? Make one funny move and you'll regret it!"

"Fine." Marisa scratched her hat, darting her eyes. "Yeah, that's right. Remi invited me to come the other day. I'm here to visit."

"Do you have a note of invitation?"

Marisa stared at her.

"Uh yeah, hold on." She reached into her pockets and fished around as she drifted down face to face with the gatekeeper. "Gimme a sec. It's gotta be somewhere 'round here. Aha, found it!" But instead of a fancy envelope with the blood red seal Remilia Scarlet is fond of using, Marisa had her mini-hakkero in her hands, pointed at Meiling. The wooden block of magical furnace glowed with bright, light blue intensity, and Meiling was too dumbfounded to reaction in time.

"Should have kept napping." the mage in black and white muttered as she quickly charged up a blast of pure magical energy.

But a hand grasped her shoulder before she could fire. It was a soft, cool hand with long and sleek fingers. Marisa felt a wave of cold descending down her back. She immediately stopped her attack, having forced to do so from her sudden sheer disadvantage. The remaining pent-up energy in her hakkero fizzled up in the air.

"Tch."

Meiling blinked at the maid behind her.

"The mistress is not seeing anyone today, Marisa." Sakuya said from Marisa's back. "Whatever business you may have could wait."

 _I wasn't planning to see her anyways._ Marisa, trusting her quick casting speed, turned around and pointed her furnace at Sakuya. But she had forgotten what she was capable of. All of a sudden, without any movement from the maid, a blue handled knife was stabbed deep through the center of her hakkero. The blue energy she summoned within flickered several times before going out, the tri-gram pattern dimming. She didn't do anything, but it was clearly Sakuya who had disabled Marisa's trademark weapon and spell. All with just a precise throw.

"That's enough. Leave before you cause more trouble."

Marisa glared at the maid. She was clearly defeated. What could one hope to achieve in stopped time? For a good they met eye to eye before Marisa slowly lowered her outstretched hand and relented. What's with their sudden hostility? Unless she had performed a great offense, nobody batted an eye with her usual visits to the mansion. Was it because that little fight they had over the guy Miles a few days ago?

No matter, Marisa's purpose on coming here was denied. She let out a sigh of frustration before walking past Sakuya, tossing back the knife that was stuck in her hakkero.

"...Marisa." Sakuya called out. "Are you here about the snow and the meteorite?"

The mage stopped, but didn't turn around. Sakuya materialized in front of her with a stack of books, varied in size and thickness.

"These are all I could find in library regarding to strange weathers and space phenomenons."

Marisa looked at her face with a sort glum curiosity. "Thanks, I guess." _But was breaking my thing really necessary?_ She accepted the books and hopped on her broom, each arm holding a stack with her ride on semi-autopilot mode. As she left, her figure in the distance eventually turned into nothing but a speck of black in the blinding blizzard.

The two servants of Remilia Scarlet remained behind, heads tilting toward the sky.

"Thanks Sakuya," Meiling smiled sheepishly, scratching her head. "You've busted me out of trouble again."

"Don't mention it. I simply came in fear of what might happen to you lest you let another uninvited guest in."

"Ehhh, it wasn't really my fault Reimu was so stupidly strong last time."

"That is true."

"Oh," Meiling noticed something Sakuya did not do when handing Marisa the research materials. "You didn't tell her when to return those books. Weren't you anxious all day yesterday to gather information about that pebble in the lake?"

The maid smiled at her friend and let out a frosted breath of air. "Didn't I tell you, Meiling? Those books wouldn't be returned for a while, as there would be no one here to receive them when she's finished."

 _Good luck Marisa._ She thought, watching the fleeting magician disappear into the gray horizon. _I hope you and Reimu would take care of this one in my stead._


	33. Day 3 - III

**Day 3 - III**

* * *

"Look!" At the edge of the forest beneath the Youkai Mountain and once lead to the Misty Lake, a small, chubby hand pointed at the figure speeding past them above in the snow filled sky. Like a shooting star, the way it disappeared down the horizon.

"Look at what?" Cirno checked the skies irritatingly. There were already several points of interest pointed out by the hand, but they all lead to nothing.

"Someone just flew by." Daiyousei said, accompanying the group of fairies. "I couldn't tell who they were, though."

"Gone! Gone!" The tiny hand belonged to the red fairy that was born two days ago. Ever since having picked up the ability to speak basic coherent words on her first day, the fairy often referred himself as Agnee, and so with creative originality, the group of fairy that looked after her named her so."Where it go?"

"They went home." Daiyousei replied with the gentle tone she always uses when talking to the child. "Or they had something urgent to do. Very fast, right?"

"Fast." Agnee repeated, then laughed out loud at how the strange word sounded like.

"Dude, I'm glad Dai's here with us." a fairy said as they resumed their aimless drifting around the vicinity. "The kid would have been unbearable."

"For once I have to agree with you." Cirno nodded.

"Still, a fire fairy," another fairy pointed out, "I've never seen one before."

"I've seen you shoot out fire balls." The other fairy said.

"Yeah, but what how I compare to a fairy of _pure flame?_ Besides, have you _seen_ what she did to Cirno the other day? I don't know how she even lived from that."

"I'm standing right here."

"How did you even live from that?"

Cirno stared at the one who asked the question. She decided it wasn't worth her she was here with them in the first place? Daiyousei suggested, no, she demanded them to take care of the newborn fairy and treat her as one of their own. As much as Cirno sometimes admired her friend's heartwarming kindness, she felt that she was incredibly foolish and naïve to take in Agnee just like that. Who knew who this fairy truly was and what her goals were? And besides, a spot among Cirno's ragtag team of hooligans is a sacred one. It's an honor that must be earned by, say, successfully dumping a bucket of water on the Hakurei shrine maiden and _get away with it._

But she knew better than to fight with Daiyousei on that one. When _she_ gets mad, the entirety of Gensokyo shudders. Grudgingly she accepted Agnee in their group, introduction the new member to the ones that were absent during the day of her arrival.

 _Ugh._ Cirno laid arms behind her head. _I wished for something to happen. But not this._

* * *

At a small hilltop not too far away from the fairies, yet not so standing out in plain view, a youkai carefully surveyed them. Not like the ones Cirno and the others frequently hung out and associated with. No, those were on the lower levels of the invisible class hierarchy of the youkai. This observer is different. Though she is a shikigami-a familiar of another youkai-one still cannot compare her to the riff raffs of the lake.

One, two, three, counting all the way to nine, the number of golden tails the observer possessed, and the highest amount her kind can get, Ran Yakumo is a youkai among youkai. Standing on the hilltop with her arms folded, she waited until the cry of a sinister and superstitious bird echoed in the air. A black crow with intelligent aquamarine eyes flew up to her and landed on her hand, in which its talons posed no threat at all to her skin.

"I see." Ran Yakumo said, eyeing the distant fairies. "Is that all, Sutan?"

The crow cocked its head, staring at its master's servant. They shared a common cause.

"Very well then. Your services will be rewarded, if you keep up your apt reports. I will inform her as soon as I can."

The crow blinked, then spread its wings and flew away. Ran watched it disappear in the snowy horizon. It came with a detailed observation and report about the various happenings in the realm. Those were a lot more accurate and financially cheaper than the Bunbunmaru newspaper. According to the shikigami bird, the Youkai Mountain entered temporary martial law, in response to the looming threat that the meteorite seemed to pose to them. The human village, on the other hand, is worried, but not yet panicking. Despite having their source of water cut off, they still had a few wells abundant with water. As for the rest of Gensokyo, they either seem to not care or turned a blind eye away deliberately as the foreign rock's had minimal impact on their lives.

 _What fools,_ Ran thought. _Typical youkai, all so selfishly centered on their lives._ But she had no place to talk, and no time to dwell on those thoughts. Her task was to keep up with the updates in the land and report what the crow had seen during the past few days to her master, Yukari Yakumo. The problem is that she is currently in one of her "hibernation naps", an automatic and habitual response to the snow, so Ran will have to stand by until the date her master awakes., which is mathematically impossible to predict. Chances are she will as soon as the snow ends, but so far, not just Ran, but the rest of Gensokyo who kept an eye on this unnatural weather, could not tell if it was going to happen soon.

There is also another anomaly equivalent to the weather. Ran narrowed her honed eyes to the red fairy down below, apparently playing around with fire in her hands. This fairy appeared on the exact day the meteorite struck. Ran never bothered to familiarize herself with the fairies around the lake, but even she is sure that this fairy was new and foreign. A strange entity indeed, she must have something to do with the meteorite, maybe the snow as well. Ran wondered what would her master say about this. A fairy whose natural element was of the devastating flames...its potential, as of so far it has demonstrated with its raw power, was could be limitless. Perhaps, while she awaits for her master's awakening, the fairy will be worthwhile to keep an eye on.


	34. Day 4 - I

**Day 4 - I**

* * *

 **The Mysterious Rock that Blew Up the Lake**

 _A rock was widely reported to be falling from the sky two days ago, and it crashed into the former Misty Lake dead in the center, leveling everything around it. No one was sure where it came from, but it was the type of the peculiar occurrence that Gensokyo tends to see from time to time, only this time it was more devastating in terms of collateral damage. Almost nothing of the lake remained. The Youkai Mountain in response resorted to martial law, hence the two day delay for the production of Bunbunmaru's breaking news, as yours truly is a member of the tengu court up there. As odd as the situation is, it seemed that the rock itself was split open like a watermelon._

 _"I poked it around inside a little," said Rumia, a youkai. "It was really hot, but there was nothing tasty-looking inside at all." In fact, not just the lack of tasty-looking objects, but there was really nothing inside the hallowed shells._

 _"Something probably came out from that," according to a wolf tengu, a member of the scouting squad the Mountain sent down to investigate the site. "I don't know what, but the Tenma's not gonna like this when we come back empty-handed."_

 _Best of luck to you, Momiji. In the meantime, like the rest of those who are determined to get a clue on this, I will dig further in this shroud of fog that dispelled the ever-so-gray mists of the Lake, so expect future issues of the Bunbunmaru cover updates on the matter._

 _-A._

 _pg 4_

I flipped through the previous pages of the newspaper. Yup. The same. I placed it down at the table, staring at the Japanese in silence. There is something wrong about this, about me. Alice had commented before that I was a fast learner. Well, it's definitely true, and I was content to myself from the steady progress I've been making on grasping Japanese during the past few days.

Apparently I was deeply underestimated by both of us. I'm not a fast learner, as I had discovered. I'm a natural. Not bragging here, but by this point I am able to read through this Bunbunmaru newspaper without trouble, up to the level of a normal person. I am able to precisely understand the contents. Maybe it would be better if I _was_ bragging, then it would be normal. But it's not.

"Alice," I called to my tenant as she walked down the stairs. "I can't believe this. Something abnormal is at work here."

"Good morning to you too, Miles." She noticed the paper. "Is that the Bunbunmaru? How did you get your hands on that?"

"I heard someone opening the door some twenty minutes ago, and when I got down here it was laid on the table."

"Must be the unwanted newspaper girl again." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "And I'm assuming you are curious enough to have me want to read it over in English?"

"No, that's the problem, actually. Either you were a _really_ good teacher, or I'm too good of a student." I held up the paper. "I could already read all this by myself. Here, this article's title is called _The Mysterious Rock that Blew Up the Lake_."

Her eyes widened a little in surprise. "Hm." Holding on the railings, a few of her dolls attended her down. She wore a casual white gown and a red dress.

"My pronunciations needs some work, I know, but I could read this paper perfectly. This article talks about a rock that fell out of the sky a few days ago and what is being done about it." Alice took the paper from me. "I actually have no idea what is going on, but it sounds serious. Even those tengu people have taken action."

"My, this issue appears to be rather short. She must have written the article in a hurry." Alice flipped through the pages. "If what you say is true, then what does it say here?" She pointed at a seemly pointless advertisement page.

"It's an ad from the kappa about some new revolutionary water replication device. One prototype costs, uh, 4,000,000 yen?"

Alice looked at me with eyes of approval, though they were weary. There are slight bags under her eyes. Did she not get enough sleep? "Well now, I suppose I should congratulate you for having achieved mastery over reading the language. My goodness Miles, it has been only about four days since we had began the lessons, yet you have already overcome what I believe is the better half. You need to practice your speaking more, though."

I nodded.

"Though it is astonishing to reach to this level of mastery in such a short amount of time. What exactly happened to you? Only yesterday you were struggling to recognize some of the words I taught you. Did something happen overnight?"

"Um..." Aside from the usual trippy dreams, nope. "Nothing happened. It seemed that I could read just this morning."

"Well, nevertheless it is quite a spectacular feat, even for the most intelligent youkai out there. It is strange indeed." She sat down on her usual spot at the table and Shanghai brought over the first cup of tea for the day. "Now if you will excuse me for asking, but do you think it is still necessary to continue the lessons? At this point, I think you are able to get by with what you now know. Besides, you will leave in just a few days. Mostly likely you wouldn't get a lot of chance to converse with the natives."

"I want to continue." Because why stop now?

"I see. Aside from reading, could you also write?"

"It's not as easy as reading the characters and letters, but I manage."

"Very well then. Let us start after I have my cup of morning tea. We shall focus on your speaking and hone your kanji. Forgive me if I looked a little unsightly. I used up most of last night researching about strange happenings in Gensokyo."

"Strange things? Like that rock?"

"And this snow outside. Oh, and while this one happened way before you came, it still begged for an answer to its unsolvable mystery: Reimu's generous amount of donations."

"I feel like there is still much to learn about this place."

"There is and you will, in due time."

But what is this "due time" when I leave in three days?

* * *

Someone knocked the door at around noon. When Alice got the door, she found Marisa carrying a stack of books in her hands.

"Yo." Marisa said. "Help me out here with these, will ya?" No one offered to help, so she grunted and stumbled into the kitchen, dropping the entire load onto the table where Miles sat. She gave him a quick nod for greeting.

"What are these for?" Alice followed after Marisa.

"Books from the mansion They're all written in that weird language Remi's fond of. I can't read it, but since you knew how to speak it, I was thinking that maybe you can."

Alice gently picked the first book from the pile and read the title. "This is...English? Why do you have them if you can't read them?"

"It's not like I could go in there myself." Marisa replied, making herself comfortable on a chair and placing her legs on the table. "They don't want people to come in for some reason, so Sakuya went in and got me these. I'm hungry. Got anything biscuits?"

"Well, I suppose I could guess why, after all that racket." Alice ignored the last part and looked at Miles, who rested his chin tried to listen to the conversation. She flipped the book in hand and skimmed through it. "Hm? This is..."

"What is it? Did it say something about the rock? I tried to study these books myself all day yesterday but I couldn't understand a word of these squiggly lines."

Alice placed the book down and reached for another one. After skimming through that, she went for another. Soon, she was done with the stack. "These books are no help, Marisa."

"What? Why not?"

"Miles, are you listening?"

" _Huh? Oh, yeah._ "

"Flip through these and tell me what they are about."

Marisa stared at him. "He understands Japanese now?"

"Barely."

After a while, Miles looked up and was finished, though not as fast as Alice had gotten through them. "They're nonfiction," he said, in Japanese. "Half of them's about basic astrology and the other half's about weather sciences."

"Did you find anything useful? Anything that could be used as a clue regarding to the snow or that meteorite?"

Miles blinked, trying to process what she had said in Japanese, then turned his head to Marisa. "Nope."

She grimaced."Whaaat?"

"You heard him." Alice said, sliding the neatly restacked books to where she was. "These books contain irrelevant topics. Meteorites were mentioned once or twice but there is nothing particular in the subjects you are looking for. Are you sure you've got the right books?"

"Well, Sakuya said those are all the ones she could find." She leaned back and sighed. "So all of this are just wasted efforts. I went there and nearly got myself killed for nothing."

"Reimu is going to recover soon. You are going to lose your head start."

"I know." Marisa stared at the ceiling. Not a single step was taken in regards to finding clues about the recent events happening throughout the land, as well as the little unspoken competition. She sat up. "I'm going to Kourin's for a bit. Sakuya's broken my hakkero."

"I'll tag along as well, if he doesn't mind. I've got some questions to ask him."

"About this incident? I doubt he knew the lake blew up. He's even more of a shut-in than you. Probably dismissed the thud as a drunk Suika or something."

"Well, I have something else in mind for him." Alice said, sitting up and recalling Shanghai. " _Miles, Marisa and I are going out for a bit._ "

He blinked, his brain trying to adjust to the sudden switching of the language. " _Do I stay?_ "

" _No, you are coming along. I want you to meet someone. He might be interested in you._ "

" _I don't swing that way._ "

" _Very funny. We're leaving now. Make sure to bring that cell phone device of yours with you._ "


	35. Day 4 - II

**Day 4 - II**

* * *

Some time later they reached the front steps of Kourindou, an antique store that specialized in items from the outside world. Merchandises that some from the same era would consider junk. Various assortments of random things on display, such as the battered couch, the TV with the shattered screen, and the crippled tricycle, were all half buried in the snow. Miles occupied himself by staring at the store sign. This time he could read it perfectly.

"You know, we would have saved a lotta time if we flew." Marisa complained as she went up and knocked the door. They had some trouble trekking by foot, but at least Miles didn't complain about the cold. The fur coat he borrowed from Alice suited him just fine.

"And you are assuming our friend here could fly?" His benefactor replied.

"He could always take the backseat of my broom."

"What makes you think he, out of all people, would enjoy that?"

The door opened, revealing a tall, youthful man with short silvery hair and wore a pair of square framed glasses on top of his golden eyes. His blue outer garment reminded Miles very much of a cross between a traditional kimono for men and a businessman's attire. The young man had a red satchel hung on front of the sash that binds his clothing.

"Oh, it's just you, Marisa," the man said. "What could I do for you?"

"The mini-hakkero broke," Marisa took out her furnace and showed it to him. "Think you can fix it?"

The man adjusted his glasses. "It looked as if something sharp had penetrated through the fusion core and the stabilizers. It's serious enough to hinder your casting, but I could fix it." He noticed the people behind her. "Oh, you had friends coming along?"

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Rinnosuke." Alice greeted the shopkeeper.

"Ah, if it isn't Alice. Glad to see you, and thanks for taking care of Marisa, as always." Having the advantage in height, he casually patted Marisa's head. She protested her disapproval with a pout, but hesitated to object.

"Not a problem." Alice replied. "If anything I'm baffled on how you are still sane with all the time you've been with her."

Marisa interjected with a fake cough. "Let's talk inside. Y'all want to stand in the snow longer than we already have to?"

"All right, all right," Rinnosuke chuckled, then he noticed Miles idling just a little behind Alice. "Oh, I don't recognize you..." He observed him, making detailed mental notes of his features and appearances, then snapped himself out of it. "Sorry, bad habit. I tend to stare a lot, especially with unfamiliar people. You are a foreigner, right?"

"Um..." Miles tried to find a proper response. What did one say to others when meeting for the first time again? Was it just a simple greeting, like in English? Did he have to bow as well? He was sure Alice nailed everything in him, but to actually converse with a stranger made him feel all the lessons were for naught.

"He's a visitor to Gensokyo." Alice answered for him. Miles, wide eyed, gave her a nervous look. Was it safe to blurt out his identity like that? As if reading his mind, which he sometimes suspected, Alice (and a lot others, really) was covertly able to, she turned to him. "Don't worry. Mr. Rinnosuke here is a friend. He knows a thing or two about your world."

Rinnosuke nodded, though he had no idea what she had just said. With a wave of his hand he invited them to follow into his eccentric shop. Inside was a sight something akin to a bookstore: wooden shelves, high and low, neatly placed next to one another as different items for sale were held, each having their own separate space from one another. A few more fortunate items even had their own exclusive shelves and containers, hinting a more expensive price.

Expensive to all but Miles, it seemed. He squinted his eyes, trying to make sense of the horrid price tag that was placed in front of an iPod with broken screen, cased in a prestigious cube container. What's with the value? Was Rinnosuke here trying to rip people off? At most Miles could place on an old mass model like this one was around perhaps $50, and that's considerate, given its condition. Here it was approximately $5000 in yen. He shook his head, moving his eyes along the store to take a view at the other wares it offered. Not much but junk from the outside, though most were in better condition and variety than the iPod. Pillows, shoe boxes, computing magazines, a teddy bear missing an eye, a stove heater, a frying pan, coat hangers, and even a vintage Cola-Cola bottle, just waiting for curious (and unsuspecting) customers to awe at.

"Mr. Rinnosuke here runs a store specializing in things from the outside world," Alice explained, examining an oddly familiar book in her hand. Miles wondered if he was going crazy, because the cover was titled _Animal Farm_. "This is where I got my teacups and other household utensils."

Marisa went off to chat with Rinnosuke about her broken gadget by the counter with a dull colored cash register. It's still functional to a usable degree. Unsure what to do here, Miles felt he could look around like Alice, eyeing a few items and give the shopkeeper faint hope of considering a purchase, but there was really nothing here that interested him. Oh these are interesting to others from Gensokyo, perhaps, but most of the things here are just mundane everyday object. With the exception of the outrageously priced iPod and the crippled teddy bear, he's pretty sure that he owned all of the stuff on display back at his house with his father.

Having nothing better to do, he decided to be a snob and walk up within earshot of Marisa's conversation with Rinnosuke, hoping to see if he could understand their conversation.

"...So how did you break it?" Rinnosuke asked, lifting the furnace up and looking under it. "I can't possibly think of any reason why this would happen."

"Sakuya tossed a knife in there."

"The vampire's maid? Ah, that explains incredible precision. It was a perfectly clean throw, having landed in the dead middle."

"I was seriously going to beat them up if she didn't change her mind. She tried to help, but ended up giving me useless books."

"Useless books?" Rinnosuke said without looking up from the mini-hakkero, now loosening it with a screwdriver.

"Gave me some books in a foreign language. Alice flipped through it and said they're irrelevant." She crossed her arms. "What, you interested in those?"

"Hmm, a foreign language, you said? Was it..."

"Nah, it wasn't ancient kanji or youkai scripts. I think it's called 'English' or whatever, the same language Alice and that guy speaks." She noticed Miles looking at them. "Yo."

Though Miles was startled, he was glad that she didn't seem to mind him eavesdropping. "Hi."

"See? He responded. Guess the outside world is full of foreigners like him."

"English..." Rinnosuke stopped working on the furnace and looked up. His eyes immediately met Miles', scanning his appearance once again. "Hello?"

Miles blinked. Seeing that as a visible response, Rinnosuke continued. Or at least tried to. "Er, how did it go again? Oh yes. _Hi, how are you? My name is_ Rinnosuke Morichika."

Miles blinked harder.

"Whoa, you can speak English too, Kourin?"

"Can you now?" Alice, having overheard the conversation, walked over to the counter with something in hand. It was an old crimson matryoshka doll with three smaller versions contained inside its hallowed body. Rinnosuke had found it bobbling along the stream that came from the former Misty Lake.

"Well," the shopkeeper replied sheepishly, unsure on what to do with the unwanted attention, "I speak only a little, but I could read and write English well enough, so if you want me to look through those books I could lend a hand."

"You are just the exact opposite of Miles," Alice commented, placing the doll on the counter. "He could read Japanese perfectly, but is still struggling with speaking. I'd like to purchase this, by the way. How much for it, and the ones inside?

"That will be 1500 yen. Thank you very much."

"Well I'll be damned. Am I the only one here who doesn't speak this 'English'?" Marisa grumbled to herself.

* * *

Rinnosuke urged Miles and the girls to stay, seeing that there's no sense going out in the snow. _It's not like it's going away soon,_ Marisa thought.

"Um," Miles spoke to Alice. "So you said that man over there would help me."

"Oh right. Mr. Rinnosuke, if you don't mind," Alice and Miles walked over to his counter. She told him to take out his phone.

"Oh! That is..." the shopkeeper adjusted his glasses and leaned towards the device to get a closer look.

 _Oh yes, look all you want while you still can,_ Miles thought. _Just in less than a year this is gonna be considered obsolete._

"Is that not a smartphone?"

"Huh? You know what that brick is?" Marisa said nonchalantly from the side. She never had much interests in fancy gadgets. Being one of mind with Alice, she is more biased towards magic and the art of blowing stuff up.

"Yes, a smartphone is an upgraded version of home and mobile cell phones. It features a touch screen and is outfitted with an advanced personal computer system that rivals the real ones. Mr. Miles, is it? Could you understand me in Japanese?"

Miles nodded.

"Ah, okay, so while I possess this neat little quirk that could tell what a man-made object's use and function is, it never made it any easier for me on how to use it. I still require instructions, per se. I know that this is a cellphone, but I have zero clue on how to actually operate it. This breathtaking device, which appears to be an even bigger find than my iPod, how do you turn it on?"

Miles felt sorry for the man, if he was a (hu)man to begin with. His eyes lit up with fervent passion, like a person when a particular topic was brought up, and just as it occurs, the topic was something they very much loved. It is utterly too bad that at this moment the phone is dead.

" _Well,_ " he turned to Alice, looking for her to translate his disappointing news on his behalf, " _I would try to explain, but I think it's too much for me. Would you please tell him what I told you about that device? That it's out of battery?_ "

Rinnosuke regained his calm demeanor once Alice did as she was told, but nevertheless still eyed the phone with an innocent lust. Miles let him examine it.

"The dented button on the bottom is the on switch, he said." Alice translated. The shopkeeper pressed it gently. Since he was pretty much the only native Gensokyo dweller around here who understood the definition of "running out of batteries", he expected nothing to happen, so he was not too much let down when the screen stayed black, vaguely reflecting his face.

"Say, Mr. Miles, you wouldn't mind that I hold onto your smartphone for a few days, would you?"

The writer crossed his arms and cocked his head slightly in wonder.

" _I...try to find solution._ " Rinnosuke worded to him slower in English. "Though I might not have the compatible chargers, I think I could find a way surging electricity directly in."

"Wait, you mean..."

"Yes Marisa, while I repair your mini-hakkero, I could try to find a way to connect the excess energy stored within the light magic amplifier into the little hole right here." He mistakenly tapped the audio jack, but quickly realized his error and tapped the charging port.

"See, I told you he'd help you." Alice said to Miles.

"Well, I guess it's worth a try." For their kindness Miles didn't have the heart to tell them that, even if it was charged, the cellphone wouldn't be any help considering there would most likely be no Wi-Fi. "Yeah, he could hold onto. I don't really have much use for it at the moment."

Rinnosuke smiled. "Thank you. I will never get another chance to get my hands on this again. It will be a great learning experience for me. Now, you guys should sit down and have some tea. It gets lonely here."

They sat around a small table by the windows and listened to Marisa giving a speech satirical of Remilia Scarlet's. Later, they played with the strange deck of cards Miles brought with him. No one paid any attention to raging snow outside as they laughed heartily. The lonesome cold never bothered them at all.

But Miles knew it wouldn't be long before they will. He had a feeling in his gut.


	36. Day 4 - III

**Day 4 - III**

* * *

Ran Yakumo tilted her head up to see the sizable hole in the middle of the Border of Life and Death. The only thing in-between Gensokyo and the realm of the dead, it used to serve its purpose to divide the two, with good intentions. Until one day a certain red and white shrine maiden forced her way in, little contact was made between the two worlds. Not that the hole made it any better now, no sane mortal would want to venture into the Netherworld, and interestingly enough the spirits that lived in there had no intent haunting the sad and boring realm of the living.

The fox youkai sighed, shuffling her nine golden tails behind her back. The hole's been there for years. The Border of Life and Death was once thought to be near impenetrable, designed by a team of collaborate youkai. Now it was utterly violated, a humiliated shadow of its former self. Ran wondered who was really stronger, her ever mysterious and work-evading master, or the cheap shrine maiden who did this. Yukari, by the frequent requests of her longtime friend Yuyuko, was supposed to repair the hole. It's not like it was a tedious task either. With her powers, a swipe of her hand would mend it in no time, but apparently that is too much for Yukari. For years the border stood in ill repair, her master always neglecting the work. But Ran knew that if the Great Hakurei Barrier was involved, it would be a different story.

She floated towards the hole, a simple yet unique ability to the youkai, and went through the it in a steady pace. Flying was something of a gift to the youkai. Almost all of them could lift themselves up in a moment's notice and soar through the skies. Unfortunately the humans were left out. For thousands of years they watched them gliding across the grand blue sky with envy.

Despite that, there were always the few exceptions. The shrine maiden is one of the few pure blooded human that could fly in Gensokyo, but Ran heard through her master humans in the outside world all could fly if they wanted, with the aid of an invention called "airplane". In a way she felt proud for them. Those humans who just didn't fear youkai anymore managed to accomplish such an achievement. The outside world, once dominated by the youkai, now had changed its rulers.

Ran concentrated on what's in front. The ever-so gray stairs leading to Hakugyokurou welcomed her. The snow in here was more calmer than the blizzard outside, and the cool, wind felt pleasant to her face. She reached the peak in no time.

At front the only household servant, Youmu, was sweeping the ground. She noticed Ran.

"Ah, welcome, Lady Ran. Would you like to have dinner with us? They'll be finished soon, once the soup's done."

Ran smiled at her, shaking her head politely. "Thank you, but I'm here to check on my lady."

Ran had been watching the group of fairies over the past few days. She once thought there was benefit in doing so. That turned out not to be the case, unfortunately. Ran's excuse for Youmu on checking up her master was conceived on the spot. There was no need to check when Yukari is still drifting off in a dream that perhaps involved some of her more spiritual misadventures in the outside world. Coming here to Hakugyokurou was simply a much needed respite from watching the fairies, which she deduced that every second spent observing them wasted away her brain cells. It was a huge waste of time.

"Oh." Youmu said. "Lady Yukari was awake not too long ago. She's by the Saigyou Ayakashi right now, talking to Lady Yuyuko."

"Oh?" Ran perked up her ears. That quite a surprise. She did not expect Yukari to be awakened this soon. It must had something to do with this abnormal snow, she told herself. "Is that so? Thank you Youmu, I'll be sure to see her right away."

The white haired girl nodded and watched Ran went behind the Japanese styled mansion of Hakugyukurou before resuming her task to sweep the front yard clean of the fallen cherry petals.

* * *

Ran arrived at the cliff. The two in mind were standing several meters away from the dead youkai tree, as if aware of its former sentience.

But it was dead. There was no need for all the caution around it. Her master, Yukari, held a closed paper fan to her lips, whispering to Yuyuko, who too owned one but did not wave it around as fondly as her friend.

"...but is it, really? Yuyuko, you don't know what you are talking about." Ran heard Yukari speak.

"I can feel it. I can...hear its faint whispers." Yuyuko replied, staring absentmindedly at the hallowed trunks of deceased tree. "You sound not convinced, yet you stand here with me. If it's dead, surely you can touch it without anything to happen."

"I'm only doing so because you are." The gap youkai flicked her fan open, waving it anxiously. Yukari at the moment didn't realize with Yuyuko being a ghost, and essentially the overlord of the Netherworld, she is immune to whatever effects of the tree she was wary of. Having noticed this flaw in her master's way of thinking, Ran decided to do Yukari a favor and change the subject.

"I see you have awakened, Lady Yukari," she called to her and bowed to both of them when they turned around, "I have come with reports from Gensokyo while you were asleep."

"That could wait til later, Ran." Yukari shut her fan and pointed it at the tree. "Do you know what that is?"

"Is that not the Saigyou Ayakashi? The same tree that..." Ran glanced at Yuyuko, hesitant to continue. Yuyuko however encouraged her to go on with a sincere smile. "...The one Lady Yuyuko tried to revive years ago at the expense of Gensokyo's spring, which ended with as an utter failure with the Hakurei shrine maiden's intervention?"

"My, Ran, that is a bit way too precise, but you got that right. Who taught you all that, I wonder?" Yukari said, thought her nine-tailed servant is unsure whether or not that was sarcasm.

The Spring Snow Incident, it was called. The result of Yuyuko's dangerously tenacious resolve and intrigue to revive the Saigyou Akayashi. The process to restore the tree to its former glory was deeply complicated. Having skipped an essential prerequisite, the tree, when encouraged to regrow, decided to steal the essence of spring in Gensokyo, where life energy was rich. That meant taking away the season of spring quite literally, forcing the land to revert back to a harsher winter. Everywhere was encased was snow for months before the rudimentary incident was finally resolved.

Ran thought about the past and the role she and her master played. They lent Yuyuko a hand in the scheme, and got busted for it all the same. A beating by Reimu was something to be remembered. Judging by the fact that the two mistresses were debating about the current state of the tree, Ran couldn't help but scowl at a certain thought.

"It appears," Yuyuko noticed her expression, "that she had figured out what was going on."

"Of course. She's my shikigami after all." Yukari replied with an edge of pride behind her voice.

"Is the tree getting revived, mistress? Again?"

"Yes." "No."

The two said in unison. Yukari glared at Yuyuko, but without genuine hostility. She frowned. "Well, I would _wish_ it's a no. You knew it failed last time, disastrously."

Yuyuko kept her smile. Ran found it somewhat condescending. "May I ask," Ran stuffed her arms in her large sleeves, "how and why did it become so? Is there a," she chose her words wisely, " _firm_ plan this time?"

"Actually Ran, I haven't done as much as to touch the Saigyou Ayakashi. It began to bloom by itself, just some time ago." Yuyuko answered, her hair fluttering in the calm breeze. "In fact, I took the liberty to wake up Yukari to ask if it was her doing."

"Which wasn't," Yukari shrugged, "I don't have a clue on what is going on. The tree, based on Yuyuko said, started to revive _itself_."

But she did have a clue. She knew why the previous attempt all those years ag failed badly, something Yuyuko herself is not aware of. Even though the knowing potential catastrophe the tree could cause by sapping away the essence of spring in Gensokyo, Yukari never bothered to step in and stop it. She knew the plan would never succeed. Something critical was lacking.

"Mistress," sensing her master's thoughts, Ran walked up to her and whispered, "the last time it failed because Lady Yuyuko didn't know what she was doing. It was a reaction the tree was forced to create. But if this time it went on by itself..."

For a moment Ran thought she saw her master's face pale, but Yukari composed herself before responding rather loudly. "I know what you are saying, Ran. You are talking about the 'ingredient', yes?"

"What ingredient?" Yuyuko's eyes were suddenly lighted with excitement.

"The secret ingredient Youmu spoke of when I came in, Lady Yuyuko. She said dinner will be ready soon." Ran answered for her master. It was a clever way to distract her, even if momentarily. Yuyuko had the reputation for being a huge glutton, and it never did bite her back, as her spiritual body could not be disturbed by material indulgence.

To reinforce the distraction Youmu arrived, though unwittingly, calling them for dinner. Yuyuko ran towards her servant like an energetic child who was finally allowed to play after a boring day of tending the fields. When asked if there was indeed a "secret ingredient" for today's meal, Youmu nodded confusingly, unsure what is so special about table salt and soy sauce. Then she saw the subtle smile from Yukari. Subtle, but definitely sly. She signed. Youmu is going to have to improvise, exaggerating the dinner as if they were exotic delicacies imported from the outside just because Yukari wanted some private moment with her own servant.

The ghost and the half ghost hurriedly retreated to the mansion, one worryingly eager to do so and one somewhat reluctantly, now having realized the true intention behind it. Yukari and Ran followed behind, slowly.

"So what do you think?" Yukari asked while looking straight forward, enjoying the walk as a few stray cherry petals floated by. "If the tree is truly blooming by itself, then that 'ingredient' must have..."

Ran nodded rather formally. Despite knowing that a certain "ingredient" was crucial to truly revive the Saigyou Ayakashi to its original youkai state a thousand years ago, she never knew what actually _was_ the secret ingredient. Yukari never spoke of it much after the previous incident, and during the rare times when she did, the shrouded vagueness makes it as informative as a brick. Surely this 'ingredient' is not some component for a rare dish?

She decided maybe now was the right time to ask. Yuyuko and Youmu was out of earshot. "Mistress, if I may, what exactly _is_ this 'secret ingredient'? Keeping Lady Yuyuko in the dark was a wise move, but perhaps it would not hurt to shed some light to your faithful servant."

"Oh Ran, you sly fox you." Yukari sighed. She knew better than to argue. At times like this, Ran's curiosity could be annoyingly persistent. Perhaps that is where Ran's own shikigami, Chen, have gotten her naïve interest in the unknown from. "All right then, I suppose with you knowing it could help on my investigation."

Ran blinked. Investigation? Her? Yukari may occasionally assist people from one incident to another, but to actually looking into the matter herself? What could have been so drastic that she may have to be called upon?

"The 'ingredient', as you know, is extremely important, and must be present, in order to proper revive the tree. The tree was taking in lots of essence, yes, but it without the special package it might as well be a little beansprout to Reimu. Not that I could blame Yuyuko much, of course. She's not even aware that such a crucial step existed.

"Though I cannot remember my past with much clarity, I do remember the day when Yuyuko died, as well as the death of her father before. You were born much later when she died, but if you were there at the time then it wouldn't take a fool to realize it. Hm. To tell the truth, there are actually two 'ingredients'."

"Two?"

"Yuyuko is one."

"Oh."

"So that leaves out this other one. Are you...seeing a pattern now, Ran?"

"...I'm sorry," she shook her head, "please do elaborate."

"Yuyuko's corpse was integrated with the tree, as she died on top of it. Before that, her father died with a similar fashion."

It took a moment for Ran to keep up with Yukari. "You don't mean...her father is this crucial step?"

"Yes, but to be more precise, it's his soul that is required, not his pudgy body. Yuyuko's body is already well covered as part of the step. All she needs is the soul of her own father, which the poor girl doesn't even have the memory now to realize she had one."

Ran fell silent, working her mind on what she just said. They entered through the back doors of the mansion. The Youmu and Yuyuko already went to the dining room.

"So if the tree is reviving now, and Yuyuko had nothing to do with it this time..."

"Then it must mean that the tree have detected the presence of her father somewhere in Gensokyo, right at this moment. It's probably some kind of impersonator though." Yukari closed her eyes. "Now I only pray that what I exactly just said was wrong, because you have no idea what will happen if that tree was to revive to its former state. It's _true_ state." she emphasized, suppressing a slight shudder that Ran must not be allowed to see.

Yukari reminisced her one odd thousand years of life. Though she could not remember everything that has happened, a few events were deeply burnt inside her mind. Some a comforting memory, which she cherished them back with yearning nostalgia, and some which haunted her to an extent that her servant would never believe she was capable of displaying such vulnerability. The memory of Yuyuko's passing was something in between.

She opened her eyes back to the present. A larger problem is waiting for her, and it took in the form of the object that had once claimed her friend's life.

"So you said you had some reports for me earlier." She tried to not thinking about it too deeply. This was something direct, and if she's not being careful with this one, it would go out of control fast. "What were they about?"

"Yes, during the days in which you were asleep, a strange snow began to fall. At first it wasn't much, but gradually over the times it transformed into a storm, with no end of it coming to stop anytime soon."

Ran saw that brief paling in her master's face again, this time confirming it. Yukari quickly opened up a small gap in front of her an eye-like portal that was linked into a void of strange and violet. It was the manifestation of her natural gift to control "borders", and was called a gap. The gap was commanded by its master to show a scenery in Gensokyo, and it obeyed without question. It showcased the Hakurei shrine from the outside, a place Yukari is still fond of. She saw snow in unbelievable amounts on the shrine grounds, and even more as a huge blizzard took place. A few flakes blew into the gap, they went into Yukari's eyes, which she blinked irritatingly in response. Compared to the soft, minor snow here, the storm outside was on a level only the madness could perceive.

"This is worse than I thought..." Yukari, with a fan of her fan, flicked the gap to close. It looked like the tree had already begun its process of harvesting, and it appeared to be far worse than last time. It took months of snow from the previous attempt to even match the scale this one was going. If the tree is doing all this by itself, then there is nothing they could do to stop it.

Instead of walking into the dining room like she planned to, she walked straight past and went for the entrance. "And here I was hoping to watch the show Youmu would put up to fool Yuyuko. Ran, tell them that I have an urgent business to attend to."

"Yes ma'am." Ran bowed, hands tuckered in her conjoined sleeve, and went away. She thought of mentioning the meteorite and the other matters, but she doubt it had anything to do with the current crisis with the tree. She had to admit, she really still had no idea on what was going on. It almost seemed as if the whole thing was just a personal issue, by the way Yukari spoke.

* * *

"Now then," the manipulator of gaps narrowed her eyes, having walked out the mansion and arrived on the top of the gray staircases leading to it, "it's about time to repair that barrier."

Despite the stairs leading up to Hakugyokurou were mind-boggling long, Yukari could still see the faint, distant shape of a rectangular gate in brown, with an even smaller hole in its center. The Barrier of Life and Death. With the assistance of a gap quickly transporting her to the front of the gate, she easily mended back the large unsightly hole with a wave of her fan. The hole was quickly filled with the exact material the rest of the gate was made of, without using up any of it. Fixing a border like this was child's play, really. Yukari _was_ one of the primary architects who designed the actual barrier, the Hakurei barrier which separated the entirety of the outside world and Gensokyo, after all.

She waited for Ran's return, in which she eventually did, drifting down the staircase with a sense of urgency she got infected from her master. The two then stepped into a large gap in front of them and promptly disappeared, seeking to find information regarding to the sudden revival of the tree, and a way to stop it, if possible. But she doubt it. Perhaps Reimu would willing to lend a hand this time.

One of the disturbing memories bothered her, and she can't get it out of her head. Yukari tried her hardest to not show the unsettling dread she had from that scene in her memory, in which the pinkish sky of the Netherworld was turned to a ghastly blue color. It was filled with countless souls of the living, getting absorbed for the once dangerously beautiful Saigyou Ayakashi, using the lives of mortal and immortal alike as its own fertilizer to attain the unachievable beauty in the territory of gods...

...as once described by the famous poet and the father of Yuyuko, Saigyou Hoshi.


	37. Day 5 - I

**Day 5 - I**

* * *

Miles let out a sneeze. He is reminded of the time when Marisa did the same, when showing him the way to Alice's house. It hasn't been too long since then, but it felt like a lot to him.

He shoveled away a hard block of snow, wondering why he was bothered to do this. No matter how much he shoveled, the snow would refill the cleaned out spot in minutes. It is a pointless exercise. He regrets complaining to Alice about the lack of excitement these parts.

"If you are so bored," she said before leaving the house again for an untold reason, "why not help clear out the snow?"

"What?" he said, "but it's-"

"I don't want to hear it. You keep on rambling about having nothing to do, so I tried to help. Now go out there and at least try to be productive. I want to see at least my doorstep cleared when I come back."

Miles wondered what in the world made her order him to do this. Did he unknowingly managed to piss her off at one point? This chore is a lot like torture. The snow would always come back. Miles wondered if she was actually a sadist, smiling to herself right now at the thought of him doing this mindless, fruitless chore. Well, he did feel bad freeloading at Alice's house. It's the least he could do to pay her back and express some of his gratitude at sheltering him from who knows what.

While he took a small break and watched most of his recent progress getting filled again, his mind wandered to the past dreams and visions he had seen. At least the work helped to clear his mind. Those dreams, what do they signify? On every occasion he landed in the same scenario, the same location. Those cherry blossoms, the calm, pleasant wind, the whispering children, and the tree...it can't all just be a coincidence, right?

Miles considered telling this to Alice. She might have a clue to where this is going. As far as he knows, that mystical place found in his dreams must be a real location in Gensokyo. She might point him to the right direction and he could solve its mystery once and for all.

If only it would be that simple. Miles sighed, cursing this god-forsaken snow, and resumed his mindless shoveling. Trapped in a place full of foreign oriental gods and demons, maybe he shouldn't have skipped going to the church as a kid. So far he's done zero progress on Alice's doorstep. There is no telling what she might do when she comes back and see his miserable progress. Perhaps not even going to the church would have helped.

* * *

"So it may be just me," Marisa said as she drifted closer to the gate of the Netherworld, the Border of Life and Death. Alice trailed behind her. "but I don't recall that hole being fixed the last time I was here."

Alice stared at the spot where the large hole Reimu made should have been, now replaced by a fresh patch of wood. Of course, it isn't _just_ wood. She placed her hands on it, the surface cold and smooth. Unlike the rest of the gate, the quality almost felt as if it was replaced recently.

"I think I agree with you Marisa, on what you said the other day," Alice narrowed her eyes, inspecting the two large red talisman pasted onto the oversized wooden gate. "Gensokyo probably _did_ went mad, because I think Yukari Yakumo just fixed this not too long ago."

Alice and Marisa decided to pay Hakugyokurou a visit, since its residents are the prime suspect behind the snow befallen upon Gensokyo. A similar thing did happen before, and it turned out they were the original culprits, so obviously anyone with adequate sense would go up there. But something was wrong, as the two magicians had noticed. The first sign was the ranked number two Most Unthinkable Acts in Gensokyo: Yukari finally bothered to fix the gate.

First place was Reimu getting rich.

"Well, since they went through the trouble to cover the door up, it only made them more suspicious as they already are." Marisa tilted her head up, staring above the gigantic gate and looked for the small shortcut she had memorized. Alice looked around the area as she did so. Though she had not been here more than once herself, nothing's ever changed. Everything was somehow exactly how she remembered it to be. This place, the realm of the dead, is sterile. Perhaps too much of so. The snow outside the pink cloud the gate rested on turned out to be a bigger blizzard than yesterday, but here only a few gentle flakes frosted their faces, demonstrating the amount of external influence the Netherworld receives.

Marisa found it. While Reimu broke in with brute strength, Marisa found a way to fly overhead directly into the Netherworld. It was unclear whether or not this shortcut was intentionally created. Marisa assumed it to be a careless design flaw, but a rather convenient one nevertheless.

The shortcut is the only way to get in because the Border of Life and Death itself is nigh indestructible. So much that it triggered an irrational itch in Marisa, urging her to unleash her signature move, the Master Spark, upon it. Up til this day she still hasn't figured out on how Reimu managed to kicked it down (literally?). If her mini-hakkero wasn't getting repaired, she would have tried her luck today.

The itch proved to be so great she actually gave in to it. The mini-hakkero wasn't _required_ to produce a Master Spark. She could make one out of her hands when cupped together, but it would be approximately two and a quarter times less potent. The hakkero was that much of a blessing. She had to thank Rinnosuke for that. But even so, with that tiny, percentage equivalent of the Master Spark, it would still be enough to leave a smoldering hole when fired directly into the twelve-inch snow piled on the ground outside. Marisa grinned, excited with the thought. She stood up on her broomstick like how one would ride a transportation device called a _skateboard_ and formed her hands together. Her magic had greatly improved since the original incident. This one would be a piece of cake. The amount of research and mind-numbing practice she had pushed herself to the very limit. Endless repetition pays off. Unlike Reimu, Marisa triumphs as a hard worker, and the results speak louder than any of her fancy Shinto rituals. This is a possibility that favored her. She could do it. No, she _would_ do it. Mana swirled around her and focused onto her palms. The blue concentrated energy built up in her hands, and soon, given the command, it would explode in a violent burst, a beam of pure magical destruction to rain down upon her enemies.

"Heya! What are you doing?"

Someone smacked her hard on the shoulder. Marisa yelped and fired her unrefined Master Spark with wild inaccuracy. The narrow beam of sky-blue energy pierced a small hole in the clouds above before it dissipates into the thin air. She panted, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Partly from the amount of concentration to charge up a move like that unassisted, but mostly from the unexpected arrival of someone behind her back. She turned around. Sanae Kochiya.

"What are you doing here? You made me miss..." Marisa grumbled.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The bright green haired shrine maiden looked around and noticed Alice. "Er, hello. Alice, right?"

Alice nodded, glad no one saw her face-palm earlier at Marisa's idiotic attempt at shooting down the barrier that was designed to separate _two different realms_. Shanghai waved politely at Sanae.

"We're here to ask the ghosts a few questions," Marisa replied annoyingly as she sat back down on her broom and readjusted her askew hat.

"About the snow and that meteorite?" Sanae asked.

"Well, I'm not so sure about the...meteorite? Is that what you call that rock by the late? Nah, we're just here about the snow. But it wouldn't hurt to ask them about that, I guess."

"Ah, well, I'm here for the same reason. Do you guys mind if I tag along?"

Marisa shrugged, still silently irritated at Sanae messing up the shot earlier. She could have sworn she was going to make it. She was in the zone. Too bad now she was too unnerved to give it another try.

"We could use all the help we get," Alice said. "Since Reimu's here this time, how about we all team up together for this incident?"

The girls nodded her approval. Marisa showed them the small opening in the pink cloud that hung above the barrier. It was the alternative path that served as a shortcut into the Netherworld. She was the first to fly in, only to go through the fluffy substance.

Alice and Sanae was as confused as Marisa. She flew back in and tried to enter again. Nothing happened.

"Are you sure you remembered it right?"

"It's gotta be here. I swear. At least somewhere here." Marisa searched through the clouds drifting by, looking to see if she may had mistaken. None of them held a way inside. "Well I'll be damned. It's not here!"

They spent a good hour looking around for the secret passageway, but they all found nothing. Marisa by then had regained enough foolishness to give it another try at hopelessly breaking down the barrier. Nothing she did worked. The wooden gate simply resisted everything she threw at it. Not even a scratch was made. Sanae was naïve enough to join in, summoning her arsenal of holy Shinto spells to command the gate to open. Alice watched the two fail in an almost comical fashion and sighed.

"I suspect Yukari must have sealed that passageway as well, if she wanted to cover this place up." Alice concluded.

"Hmm, this must mean they knew something." Sanae said.

"Yeah, but what do we do now? This door wouldn't budge, and my shortcut's gone. The Netherworld's sealed forever now, back to the way it used to be."

"Just the way it should be," Alice corrected her, "mortals like you two shouldn't stay in that place for too long."

"How about I go back and find Suika to kick it down?" Marisa suggested.

"I could ask Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako for help." Sanae joined in.

Alice shook her head at both of them. Suika was exceptionally strong in terms of her physique, even for an oni, and it might be interesting to see the powers of the twin gods of the Moriya Shrine at work, but in the end the Border of Life and Death would prevail. It was designed by the ancients and the yama, judges after death, to lock up the place for good, away from Gensokyo. Only the dead could access through it freely, though it's mostly a one way trip.

They could ask Reimu for help, of course. She would have no trouble making a bigger hole now. But that would beat the point. They were here _because_ Reimu couldn't show up. She couldn't always take the credit for solving the incidents.

"So in the end it all boils down to one person that could get us in..."

"Yukari."

The person who obstructed them is the one who could assist them. Her near-omnipotent gaps could lead through anything. To her, the Border of Life and Death is nothing but a literal wooden gate. But that suggestion is pretty much impossible. They might as well give up the whole operation. There is no telling if Yukari would help them, if she's not the perpetrator to begin with. And plus, they don't even know where she is, or how to contact her. Only Reimu knew her well enough to help them.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go home."

So it was decided that they would, but only for today. Alice and Marisa parted ways with Sanae, who went back to her shrine. The two returned to the skies of Gensokyo in silence, observing the scenery of the white purity.

Alice saw something strange. The trees. They were once green and full of life. Even when the snow initially kicked in they were upbeat with vigor. Just yesterday she could recall seeing them relatively healthy, refusing to give in to the snow. Now, as she had seen with her sharp eyes down below, the trees were all dead. Their branches drooped, and their leaves turned crisp and yellow, falling in tandem with each snowflake. Fall had arrived during Gensokyo's spring, shrouded in the cold cloak of an artificial winter.

The sapping process begun almost overnight.


	38. Day 5 - II

**Day 5 - II**

* * *

With a grunt, Miles effectively stabbed his shovel into the soft, fresh snow. By now he's stopped minding the useless activity. It helped to him think. And while he was deep in thought, exploring every possibility of what those dreams of his might be, a few suspicious shadows giggled to themselves, hiding by the bushes to his front.

"Look at him," one of them whispered, "he just keeps on digging."

"He probably doesn't even know it's pointless." Another one whispered back. "Look, that idiot's doing it again! Hahaha!"

"I pity the fool. He looks so focused on his job. Poor human, I bet the creepy girl that talks to her own puppets made him do this." the third one of the bunch said. Miles wasn't aware he was being watched.

"Hey, I have an idea," one of them suggested, a speck of mischief glistened in their eyes...

* * *

 _Stab._

What was that dream?

 _Lift._

What was that tree?

 _Toss._

I stared at the irregular shaped patch of thin snow where my shovel worked its magic. In less than five minutes it would come back as if nothing's ever happened.

 _Stab._

I recall something Wendy said to me.

 _Lift._

She was staring at the night sky of metropolitan Tokyo outside of the hospital room's window.

 _Toss._

"You are special. You are...destined for something greater, probably."

Special. I can't really put much of an effort on denying that. But my destiny? Seriously Wendy, do I really deserve that kind of cheesy and cryptic prophetic plot device that stems from lazy writing?

Minutes later the magic undone itself. I stabbed the shovel into the same spot to clear out the snow again. No matter. I had a similar conversation with Remilia that other day, and it did stir something inside my heart. What is my destiny here, in this eastern wonderland? What _is_ this place, really? I can't shake this persistent feeling off me, that I somehow used to visit this place. No, my heart is telling me that I _lived_ here.

 **Splat**. As if answering my questions, a sudden wave of coldness spread over my nose, numbing it. I stood there speechless, shovel halfway through the ground.

Did a snowball just hit me in the face?

Another one confirmed it two seconds later. It crumbled on my neck and I felt my throat freezing.

Where are these coming from? Who-

From the shadowy trees to my front the third snowball came flying towards me. Having quickly learned from my past defeats, I twisted my torso in an attempt for evasion. The ball flew past me and splattered its white gore on Alice's door.

"Hah!" Unable to suppress my burst of ego I pointed at their general direction and mocked their miss. An unseen, low curved snowball immediately banished my confidence when it was expertly tossed like a professional baseball player. It sailed into my crotch. The impact down there was the equivalence of my future sons and daughters disintegrating into thousand fragments of ice.

* * *

"Look! He's down!" One of the three fairies who ambushed him pointed. After receiving that devastating blow, he fell face forward in the snow, leaving behind his shovel where it was stuck halfheartly into the earth. "Let's get him!"

"Wait Sunny, this might be a trap." the quiet, timid fairy of the bunch, the one who wore a frilly dress of mayonnaise white and drilled curls of blond hair said. Her name would be Luna Child, or simply Luna to her friends.

Her sincere warning was too late. Sunny Milk, the jumpy, hot-headed fairy who Luna tried to warn ignored her. She grabbed a handful of snowballs and dashed out their encampment to the unconscious human, her ruffling red and white dress picking up frost from the delicate snow.

"Aha!" To the fairies' surprise, the human rose, lumbering almost twice their height. In his hands was a boulder of a snowball. He let it go towards Sunny, who let out a panicked cry as the large snowball smashed into her upper torso, her neck, and her face. She fell back down, seeing illusionary birds circling her vison.

"Oh no! Sunny's down!" Luna panicked from where they hid.

"That idiot," the third fairy, the one who wore a blue dress and fashioned long black hair with a neatly cut bang rose up from her hiding spot. Star Sapphire was her name. "Let's give her some covering fire."

"R-Roger!"

They supported the half unconscious Sunny Milk with a barrage of smaller snowballs, pelting them at the human. He grunted annoyingly at their assistance, shielding himself with an arm over his head as he slowly retreated backwards.

"Luna, grab Sunny while I keep him distracted." Star Sapphire said. Among the three ragtag fairies, she fancied herself having the most common sense. Luna Child nodded timidly, shuffling towards the direction of her fallen friend.

The human was now crouching down from a small mound, a makeshift cover of snow. He observed Sunny Milk from a distance. "Fairies?" They heard him say. His brief scouting of his enemy was rudely interrupted when Star Sapphire began pelting him with snowballs again. Surprised, he hid behind his cover, not notice one of them dragging off the fallen Sunny Milk.

"Star," Luna Child said, panting as she placed Sunny Milk in a bush next to them, "I've got Sunny."

"Good." Star Sapphire continued her merciless barrage upon the human, the momentum of the skirmish favoring them. Unfortunately the pile of their ammunition was diminishing visibly. "We are going to retreat. Someone's coming."

Luna Child gasped, her small mouth wavering into the shape of an upside down chestnut. "We're going back? I don't want to bump into that red fairy again..."

"I don't want to get roasted either, but I'm detecting someone. It must be the doll girl. We can't fight her." She stopped throwing. "And someone else, too. Must be a friend of hers. We can't fight two of them, Luna. Tactical withdraw."

* * *

Miles wasn't sure what made the suppressive fire stop, but he wasn't about to let this opportunity to waste. Hiding behind the safety of his cover, he gathered as much snow around him as possible and squished them together into a snowball even bigger than the one he had. Wearing a cocky grin on his face, he rolled out of his cover and tossed the weapon of mass destruction with all of his might. It would have flown into the bush where the fairies were and caused massive damage...

"Still shoveling the snow, Miles? I most certainly thought you would have-"

...if the owner of the house did not step out right then from there.

Miles felt his heart stop as he hopelessly watched his proud creation obliterating Alice's face.

 _Oh._ He ceased his breathing. _Oh shit._


	39. Day 5 - III

**Day 5 - III**

* * *

The three Fairies of Light, Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire are a trio of pranksters. They're quite good at their jobs, even as fairies. Among them, Star Sapphire plays the support role of the team. With her gifted ability from birth, she is able to detect life forms distances away, making her the watchout of the group.

The timing she chose to retreat was impeccable. Two unknown personnel were coming their way. Alice, as they had guessed, was one of them, but they did not stay to take a look at the second one. They believed this second person was a friend of the enemy, reinforcement to catch them. Again, they did not remain to find out that assumption was seriously wrong.

* * *

Miles stood faced to face with Alice, whose own face looked like was greet by a pie. As fast as his mind could navigate he quickly made last minute prayers and even came up with a mental note expressing on how satisfied he was with his life.

Luckily for him she is not going to address this at the moment. A pair of knee-length dark boots trudged out the bushes and made their appearance. The owner of these boots is a young woman whose height matched Alice's. She had lengthy mint colored hair with two large braids tied under her chin by a red ribbon. In a strange way Miles thought it looked like she is choking by her own noose-like hair. The rest of her outfit complimented her apparent style of gothic fashion, the crimson dress she wore went well with her naturally pale skin.

Miles blinked. Those weary, aquamarine eyes troubled him. She looked very much like a doll.

Two dolls. Alice was still standing there, eerily silent. Despite her face still covered with snow, Miles could tell she was fully aware of someone standing behind her. Who was this person? Could she be a friend of Alice's?

It was the gothic woman who spoke first. "First, it was in the fields outside this forest. Then, it made its way to the vampire's mansion. After that it made presence at the Hakurei shrine. Now it traveled here and stayed ever since."

Her voice was low and ghastly, but it was also unnervingly soothing, like how one would comfort a person just moments before their impending death. "An enormous amount of misfortune had traveled around Gensokyo during the past few days."

Miles didn't know what to think. By this point he was well versed with Japanese, enough that he was able to understand the individual words she spoke, but he was confused by the ambiguous way they came out. Most people too struggled through this phase when learning a language. They studied hard to understand the simplest and common words only to be stumped by layered expressions and the dual meaning puns from experienced speakers, sometimes comprised entirely of such simple words.

The gothic woman's eyes met Miles'. Her melancholic gaze did not show any signs of malicious intent. Still it sent down a chill and formed goosebumps on his body. "Who is the owner of this house?" she asked to no one in particular.

"That would be me." Alice answered without looking back and without removing the remains Miles' snowball on her face. Shanghai eventually wiped it off for her with a tiny hankerchief.

"Who is that human over there?" the gothic woman lifted a delicate finger to Miles. The way the rest of her palm was hung behind her finger almost looked like she was inviting him to a dance, or perhaps allowing him to kiss her hand.

"What does it matter?" Alice turned around. She made no visible emotion upon seeing the young woman. "Who are you, and what are you doing here by my house?"

"Ah, a good question." She lifted up her dress and bowed slightly, her boots perpendicular to one another. "Hina Kagiyama, goddess of misfortune, at your service."

 _A goddess!_ Miles exclaimed in silence. She did look awfully striking for a human. If she truly was, then she would perhaps be one of the most beautiful ones in the world, for he had never seen a face so pleasant to look at. A goddess indeed.

"Misfortune god?" Alice raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "What's a misfortune god doing at my house? Things are going smoothly here. You should take a look at this misfortune around Gensokyo instead." She spread her hand around them, indicating the blizzard.

"Why that is precisely the reason why I am here." Hina smiled as she stared at Miles. Those eyes, as magnificent as they were, seemed to be consuming him. They threatened to swallow him hole. A sense of uneasiness spread over him. It felt akin to the feeling back when Remilia had her sights on him. "You see, I believe he is the sole perpetrator of the recent events in Gensokyo."

Alice was silent and chose to not say anything.

"Hey," Miles, now worried, went behind her. "What is she saying? I'm what?"

"That huge mass of gathered misfortune," Hina continued, narrowing her eyes at something invisible behind Miles, "it shouldn't be your own. No one, let alone a human, could be burdened so much misfortune and live to this day. There is no other way to explain this. You must have gathered them across from Gensokyo."

"Unwittingly," Alice responded for Miles. "He had not done such deeds with ill intentions."

"Oh? So you are not denying that he is the one responsible here?"

"What?" Miles looked at Alice expectantly. He's responsible for everything's wrong with Gensokyo right now? And he had been collecting...misfortune? Alice, the kindhearted youkai who took him in, who he had been with all this time and saw as a fair teacher and a trusted ally, surely knew that's not the truth. She is going to explain to him that his Japanese wasn't quite good enough and he misunderstood everything...right?

For the moment she ignored him. "What do you want with him?"

"Well, since you had gone out of your way clearing my doubt that I was the only one in Gensokyo who was aware of this, I shall return the favor by straight getting to the point: I will need him to return that giant clump of gathered misfortune. They will be needed to return to those that they belong to. Having only good misfortune tips the scales of balance, and as my responsibility as the only misfortune goddess in Gensokyo I will not allow that to happen."

"What's so bad about everyone having good luck?"

Hina smiled eagerly at Miles' hopelessly innocent question. Alice scowled.

"My dear human, it's just as bad as it sounds. Nothing would be considered 'good' if there is no 'bad'. With everything in their life going their way, the living will get tired of their blessed fortune and yearn for the undesirable otherwise. Good luck must be balanced with bad luck, much like the concept of good and evil, or hot and cold. It is the will of the universe, and the most sacred law since the beginning."

"You said you were getting to the point." Alice pushed her.

"...Your friend here must willingly give them up."

"And how will he do that? Surely it's not something he could just throw away."

Hina smiled again. "Normally for my duty I would travel around the land and stockpile misfortune myself, but I've never seen such a writhing mass before. I fear that I alone cannot dispel such a fate condemned for him. How are things going for him recently, may I ask? I'd imagine such an amount would at the very least cripple his life the ability to function normally."

Alice tensed. She glanced at Shanghai from the corners of her eyes. This will turn into something unfavorable, isn't it? "Get to the point."

"There is a surefire way of scattering misfortune, when all else fails." Hina explained, staring the invisible misfortune behind at Miles. "When one departs the physical world, their personal luck would be sent back to nature and restoring the balance. It will be stored until their next reincarnation, if that happens."

For the second time in less than five minutes Miles felt everything in his body cease to function. Did he hear that right? When one...departs the physical world? It must be some kind of metaphor, right? A vague expression or idiom in old Japanese, perhaps? As if answering his fears, Hina beamed at him and glided a thumb across her throat.

"Don't blame me, it's just your bad luck. You are going to die."


	40. Day 5 - IV

**Day 5 - IV**

* * *

"Miles, get back inside." Alice commanded him, but not only him. A swarm of dolls flew through the front door in haste and surrounded the goddess Hina, their tiny swords and spears pointed at her neck and other vital spots. It will take a lot more than just physical harm to kill a deity, but Hina closed her eyes and said nothing.

Miles gaped at the start of the conflict for a moment before he got a hold of himself and stumbled back into the house. A small squad of maid dolls, led by Hourai, welcomed him and formed up a shield wall around him.

"You can run," he heard Hina say before one of the dolls hurriedly slammed the door close, "but fate is something you cannot escape from."

* * *

Hina pay no heed to the sheer outnumbered disadvantage. She escaped the deadlock of dolls by evaporating into a dark purple mist and rematerialized nearby. By raising her arms, she then began to twirl. It was slowly at first, rotating clockwise with the elegance of a professional ballerina. Steadily she increased her speed as she leaped to one point with one leg, not interrupting the spinning, and jumped to another. Strange runes and kanji formed on her arms, and while she danced to her own tune, two dark purple clouds of misfortune emerged from her spinning dress. They went after the house, zig-zagging along the way and leaving behind brief, transparent trails.

Alice moved her dolls to intercept the dark energies but they passed through them harmlessly, phasing through the walls of her house. She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance.

* * *

Miles stood by the hallway and stared at it absentmindedly, having barely moved away from the door since he went back in. That goddess, Hina, she called herself, wants to kill him. Kill him, for the sake of Gensokyo.

"Hourai! Hourai!" Hourai exclaimed in alert when two clouds of purple phased through the walls and flew towards Miles. His squad of dolls held their shields up high, but the clouds went through them without effort. Miles blinked and snapped out of the daze he was in. When he tried to run he stepped on his foot and fell to the floor, evading the ominous matter by pure chance. He crawled back to his footing and dashed to the kitchen. Hourai and the others tried to attack them by poking and stabbing with their tiny armaments, but much to their dismay they had done nothing. Seeing no places to hide Miles ran for his dear life, having nowhere to go but climbing up the stairs.

That goddess wants to kill him, but for as long as he could remember he had been killing others as well. Sometimes, he enjoyed it. Writing was life for him. Having watched the reaction of dozens of people reading his work, he savored the guilt that he had slowly become addicted and accustomed to. He was a cold blooded serial killer. He mindlessly killed and killed, not giving a damn about the preciousness of life. Only when he unintentionally ended his friend. Bill's, did something rang. The overwhelming guilt from the first time returned, and he hesitated picking up the pen. It took Wendy Hearn to become the final nail in the coffin of his murdering spree. He wished to repent, but it looked like it will never happen, because right now, someone is trying to kill _him._ Was this the ironic fate that he was meant to face? How dare was he, trying to not think about this matter until it's too late? Until now, he almost enjoyed his stay in Gensokyo, making new friends and teaching them how to play UNO. Will these sweet but fleeting moments of solace end here?

It was an unpleasant feeling that churned his stomach, knowing that someone out there is determined to end his life. The other time at Remilia's mansion was different. The possibility of him dying from their crossfire was definitely there, but they did not had the dire intent to kill him. They-the shrine maiden and the vampire-were fighting _over_ him.

 _She wants to kill you_ , Miles repeated to himself. A dazzling goddess like her wants him to die. Perhaps in a strange, twisted way, it would be an honor. If he had met her in the human world, he might would have even tried to ask her out.

But Miles wasn't ready to die yet. There was still so much for him to do. There was still that dream of the cherry blossom to look for.

He does not know what would happen if he made contact with these dark clouds, but his will to live ordered him to avoid finding it out at all costs. Before the clouds could catch up he managed to climb up the stairs without giving in to the several occasions of him losing his balance. The first place he went for was his room, and so he got inside, locked the doors, and hid himself in the coat closet. He wasn't quite sure what made him to commit such a childish tactic, but it's really the only secure place he knew. The dark basement of discarded is an option but it will take more than a few floating clouds to get him back down there again.

A second later he heard Hourai and the others hopelessly trying to fend for him out in the halls. It went quiet real soon.

Miles felt sweat forming on his forehead. Like every other closets in the world, it's cramped and humid. The musty smell of leather filled the little space in there. The door to his room began to pound. He could faintly make out Hourai saying something. Not that it matters, the only words it could say was its own name. Miles wondered if Alice was lying the dolls not being autonomous. Surely she couldn't be controlling them on her own?

The poundings on the door became more violent. It was as if the dolls desperately wants to get in. Were they that scared of the clouds? Didn't those things have no effect on them? So why are they...

"Oh f-" Miles, in a moment of clarity, understood Hourai's intentions. He pushed himself out of the closet. The dark clouds passed through where he was. They would just circle around and come from the walls. No prodigies will ever top of his genius stratagem of hiding out in the closet.

Having backed onto the windows, he considered jumping out into the cold. "Hey, that's actually not too bad." Miles peered out. The snow on the ground could cushion him a little, and he's only on the second floor. He pushed open the windows and took off, the clouds quickly following him down. The impact hurt like hell, but it wasn't life threatening. He gritted his teeth to suck up the numbing pain and ran. The window lead to the back of the house, and ahead of him only lies the snow covered forest. Going back to Alice at the front was the only sensible choice.

While he ran he remembered the few UNO games he had with Wendy and Sumireko. Those were times of peace, and pure happiness. Before that, happiness was something he once thought he knew, and that was writing. Discovering his passion to create, it was truly ironic for him to enjoy it so through killing. And now he was on the receiving end. A fitting payback, he judged.

Somehow, without him realizing it, he had also messed with something of a larger, grander scale. Hina said something about him absorbing all the "misfortune" in Gensokyo. What did that mean? Misfortune? As in bad luck? Was that even possible? Sure, Miles admitted, he was never quite the lucky guy, but was he so unlucky that he managed to attract the misfortune of everyone else's? Come to think of it, his life did start going downhill when Bill kicked the bucket.

The clouds weren't slow, but they weren't terribly fast either. As long as he kept a reasonable distance within his running speed they would not catch up. It was only halfway around the house when he realized that it was quite strange for him to be running normally. Didn't he land on his left leg? He felt something broken when he landed, but for some reason the pain was gone. _Weird_ , he thought, keeping an eye behind him. _No pain. It was as if my leg was suddenly healed._ This happened before as well. When he first fell from the gap that transported him to Gensokyo he landed on his arms with a terrible crunch, but later when he woke up it was restored back to the way it was. without a single scratch.

Miles quickly added a mental note in his list of strangeness that seemed to only happen around him. Soon he saw his destination. He could make out Alice and her dolls. They were trying to catch Hina, but she was too agile. She dodged the the little soldiers with ease, even the complex formations that at times completely surrounded her. She was spinning with the grace of not just a goddess but an elegant dancer. For a moment Miles stood there, fully mesmerized by the scene. Hina did not look like the fighting type anyway. All she did was dancing around, evading Alice and her dolls. Perhaps she was trying to buy time for her clouds to find him.

The clouds were coming. He let out a small yelp and ran over to Alice.

"Alice, you've gotta help me with this."

"Miles?" The puppeteer turned around, surprised. Hina raised an eyebrow in wonder, then smiled. "What are you doing out of the house? Get back in there!"

"I'm surprised he's made it this far, but I will end this now." Three more of the clouds came from her spinning body, her arms filled with runic tattoos. They headed straight towards Miles.

"Don't!" Alice recalled her dolls and tried to shield Miles, but the move was in vain. He couldn't do anything but to gaze at the embodiment of his death with an enchanted awe. Behind him the two of the initial clouds homed in. They all went inside him at once and did not come out the other way. The pincer attack proved itself to be a success.

Miles couldn't move. He felt a disturbing lack of anything. His body couldn't sense anything. It felt deeply hallow.

 _So this is death_ , he thought, looking at his palm. _It isn't so bad. Not painful at all_ _._ He closed his eyes and welcomed his end. The same group of people who greeted him every night gathered up in the void of his closed eyelids. His kindergarten teacher, his friend Bill, Wendy, and the dozens of other unnamed people whose faces were shadowed by his lack of acquaintance with them. It's time he atoned for his sins.

 _Until we meet again._

Maybe he could write all about the it later, when he gets the chance to pick up a pen in hell. Death is an experience most writers don't get to witness firsthand.


	41. Day 5 - V

**Day 5 - V**

* * *

For a while he stood there in the cold darkness. The grim reaper is sure taking its time. Unless something else was supposed to come for him, now that he's in Japan? In any case, whatever the undertaker may be, it's going to have to finish the job, because he feels pretty damn alive right now. Slowly he opened his eyes. Maybe he'll find himself in the fiery pits of hell he'd familiarized himself with over the years.

Instead he was greeted by a dazzling white. A blinding white.

Did he somehow end up in heaven by mistake? It took him a second to register that the burning whiteness wasn't the pearly gates of heaven, but the unending snow that loved to torment him. Shovel the snow one more time and see what happens, he'd hear it whisper.

"Oh my," he heard the voice that belonged to Hina say, "this is quite unexpected, though I suppose it could happen."

What's going on? Is he still alive? But didn't those ominous looking clouds pierce through him? Did it not shatter his soul, or stopped his heart?

"Two of those would be overkill, but I had to make sure." she watched the curses on her arm fade away, "That's too bad. I thought I had him."

Alice's dolls surrounded her and Shanghai had her by the throat.

"It looks like this is my defeat." The defeated misfortune goddess held her hands up. "I surrender."

Alice narrowed her eyebrows. She lowered her dolls.

* * *

Ten minutes later they were sitting in the kitchen and drinking tea. Alice and Hina were talking about the current affairs in Gensokyo, while Miles stared at his steaming cup of fresh tea. He doesn't quite feel like drinking it.

Despite Hina's intent to kill Miles, she surrendered and offered a truce. The purple clouds were giant clumps of misfortune, and if received by any targeted being at any given time, an enormous catastrophe would happen to them almost right away, leaving all but the most fortunate dead. Apparently they were no match for Miles. His clustered misfortune simply absorbed them as their own.

All it did was to make Hina more concerned. She even tested the potency of her clouds on a passing squirrel to show them what she was talking about. It immediately died from a stroke.

Alice invited her to stay and find a solution to her problem civilly. She saw her forfeit true to her words, and so the two became quick acquaintances right away. Miles had trouble keeping up with their pace. Immortal people like them sure take it easy. He wondered if Alice's mysterious ethnicity is actually British, considering the amount of tea she drinks everyday.

"I see. So the Youkai Mountain is in uproar." she said, taking a sip from her cup.

"Indeed. No one but I was aware of your friend's collected misfortune. I decided to come down and investigate myself."

"Um," Miles interjected, "you all lost me. What is this about me collecting misfortune? And Alice, you seem to know something about me, when she asked you with those questions."

Alice looked at him. It's true she did not deny it when Hina casted her suspicion onto him.

"Well," she said, "I don't know much about the misfortune part myself, but it's true that I figured you are something special. When I first saw you I felt something different about you. You were not like the other humans. You don't have a speck of magic about you, nor any sort of divine protection, and yet...you were just...totally strange. There is something off about you, and I can't place it myself."

"How come you never said anything?"

"I thought you already know."

Miles felt he shouldn't openly express him being startled, but it It appears Alice was suspicious of him all along. She must be talking about him hiding his writing ability.

"What about the thing with my misfortune?" Miles tried to change the subject, hoping she wouldn't bring up about the poem she read the other day. "How am I collecting them, when I don''t even know about it?"

"I don't have a clue on how you are doing it myself, if I must say." Hina replied, curling her finger around her cup's handle. She looked at the two of them and searched for any signs of injuries and wounds. When she found none, she looked around the kitchen. "My, everything is perfectly fine here. The way all those negative energy are staying quiet is quite unsettling, but I suppose it's safe to be around him."

Miles blew on his tea. Just a little while ago she was seriously trying to kill him. Now they are sitting here having a tea party. Well, he decided, if Alice forgave her, then there is no reason for him to get all sulky. He can't really make himself hate someone as beautiful as Hina.

"Well," Miles spoke up, "as dire as situation may be, I have something to say, if you guys don't mind." He looked for approval. Alice nodded. He coughed and went on. It's driving him crazy. He needs to speak to someone about it. Even before when his life was flashing before his eyes he saw it. He's going to tell them about his dreams, and with the knowledge Alice and the goddess Hina here, there's a good chance he might find something in return.

* * *

Miles wasn't too confident in his Japanese, but he thought he did okay. He told them everything about his dream. The day he first started having it, what it was like in there, and the cherry tree that he just can't stop thinking about. Alice and Hina listened intently, and when he was finished, they sat back and let the room fill with silence. They could hear the snow blowing.

"The place you are speaking of," Alice spoke first, "it must be Hakugyokurou."

"No doubt about it." Hina added.

He did not expect a definite answer this fast."Haku...what? What is this place? Do you guys know about it?"

"The Hakugyoukurou, in short, is a world where the souls of the deceased go to, should they not be permitted to heaven or hell. It is in a way Gensokyo's Pandemonium, and some here call it the Netherworld. Marisa and I just went there this morning, but we couldn't get inside because the security was heavy." Alice had Shanghai pour her another cup.

"That's where you went today?"

"We were trying to investigate something."

"The snow, is it not?" Hina asked.

She nodded. "Surely the ghosts had something to do with it."

"Ghosts?" Miles wondered.

"A ghost named Yuyuko lives there, and she pulled a stunt like this some time ago, way before you came. It was snowing everywhere even though it was the middle of spring. Reimu put a stop to it, but I didn't think they would do it again."

"Mr. Miles, is it?" Hina faced him. "The tree you were talking about, it sounds like the one in Hakugyokurou. The Saigyou Hoshi, it was called. I heard it was named after a dead poet. The ghost Yuyuko tried to revive it last time, and it looked like she must be trying to do so again, judging by the identical snow we see today."

"Is that so..." Miles lifted his cup of tea. He blew on it and took a small sip. It was hot. "Any idea why its appearing so frequently in my dream?"

"If I knew that then I'd know how to get in there," Alice answered somewhat irritatingly. It was a huge waste time of her earlier in the morning.

"Or how to disperse this misfortune." Hina spoke in a louder voice. "Look Mr. Miles, I appreciate the courage of telling us what is on your mind but we are getting off topic here. The snow may be a new incident, but your misfortune is a bigger issue at hand. There is no telling what might happen should our friend continue to stay in Gensokyo. Unimaginable disaster erupt from you at any second."

"It's not just a new incident," Alice pointed out. "This may be something bigger than any of us had seen. Have you seen the plants out there? They are wilting at an alarming rate, if they are not dead already. We need to find a way to put an end to this."

"How do you know their deaths are related to to the snow? For all we could know," the misfortune goddess looked at Miles, "it could be the work of your friend."

Miles didn't know what to say.

"Look, I don't deny he's strange, but there is no proof that he is connected to all this. There is no way an ordinary human like him could cause such a potentially disastrous disturbance."

 _Ordinary_...Miles felt a stab of pain in his pride.

"So if that is all you have to say, then I believe we don't have much further to discuss." Alice stood up from her chair. "I'm going to pay a visit to the human village, Miles. Come with me if you want."

"Then I shall return to the mountain for further research on your friend's condition." Hina too stood up. "I'm not much of a welcome to the village anyway."

The goddess left before them. Alice told Miles that it is generally believed that being around the presence of a misfortune god would bring bad luck, so humans tend to avoid Hina. He wondered maybe if that's why she looked a little lonely, and how she looked relieved when Alice invited her in.

Miles puts on the thick coat Alice lent him and he waited for her getting into her boots."Why are we going to the village?"

"There is a bookstore there I want to see. They specialize in demon books, and may provide a clue as to how this incident is going. Maybe we'll even find out if that goddess is telling the truth about your bad luck." Alice said with a little spiteful sarcasm behind her words.

Miles didn't mind. He had always been interested to see the human village ever since he was left here stranded. This bookstore provoked his intrigue. Demon books? Do they have anything to do with his cursed ability to write? And, gods above, were there any others like him?

Alice is not one of them, he realized. It was a fact easily overlooked. "But I thought the humans don't like the youkai."

"They are allowed as long as they don't bother the people." Alice replied, tying her laces. "The current generation of humans are not as bad as some of the old bigoted ones. Nowadays they even let a particular species to live with them in their houses, simply because they were believed to bring good fortune."

"What about you?"

"I'm one of the few exceptions. I've performed there in several occasions, and half the time people don't even know I'm a youkai."

"Just some weird girl living alone in the woods."

"Exactly."

She finished putting on her boots. Shanghai opened the door for her. The doorway is filled with snow, with prints from Hina when she left.

"Well, at least you tried on shoveling this place. When we get back I'll get my dolls to clean it up."

Miles smiled openly. Just earlier today he thought he was a dead man. Life seems to be so much easier to appreciate now that he gets a second chance at it.

* * *

It felt forever, but they finally arrived at the village. At first Miles was afraid of the outside Remilia had done a great job turning him into a paranoid watch-out for any youkai in the mood for some Caucasian meat. It took Alice some time to reassure him. Miles showed signs of ease when she made several promises on helping him out if he ever got in trouble.

"We're here."

He couldn't see a thing with all the snow in his face. Alice sent a doll to shield the snow over his head so he could take a better look. The entrance to the village was an astonishingly tall gate. It was shut tight, with a small group of guards solemnly watching it. A few of them were speaking to an adolescent youth in a blue kimono.

Alice walked up to them. "I wish to gain entry to the village."

The youth, who Miles thought couldn't possibly be any older than him, was wearing padded fur to protect him from the cold. When he saw Alice he blinked in surprise and showed her a child-like smile.

"If it isn't the puppeteer! Your hair remains as beautiful as I remember. That golden shine never fails to bring warmth to my eyes." he observed, holding his chin. "Let's see...was I not aware of a doll show being set up?"

Alice frowned. Despite having fawned over so many girls at his village, the youth is still trying to flirt with her. Maybe he thought it would be more of a challenge to seduce a youkai.

"I'm here for Suzunaan. Open up kiddo, I have urgent business here."

The youth let his mouth hang for a while. "Did you hear that?" he said to the guard next to him, "After all these years, she finally addressed me as something other than 'frog-wart' or 'oni-food'! It even has a pleasant ring to it!"

Shanghai pouted and placed its hands on its little hip. Alice sighed.

"Yes yes, kiddo, youngster, lad, whatever tickles your fancy. Now, do something about that gate."

"Ah, about that." the youth looked at the guards. They shrugged. "Sorry Alice, but the village's on a lockdown. No one is allowed to enter or leave until further notice."

Alice shut her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay look. Slapping you in front of the public was a little overboard on my part last time, I admit it. If you're still sore over your tarnished pride and reputation, then allow me to apologize."

The youth shook his head. "As pleased as I am to see that you care for someone like me, the gate will not open. I'm sorry Alice, you'll have to come back at another time, and I'm not even sure when, to be honest."

"What's happening in there? At least tell me that."

"...I'm sorry, but the village's closed." the youth tried to look away, ashamed of having to deny her the privilege to enter. Usually she would be allowed without a heartbeat, no matter the time, but today was different. Instead of avoid looking at her and stare at the snow like he hoped though, he saw someone staring right back at him. His skin wasn't as pale as Alice's, but he definitely looked like her. One of Alice's dolls rested on his head to shelter his face from the snow. He was reminded of the two similar looking foreigners taking refuge in the village.

"Well then," Alice turned around after giving him a dubious glare, "I suppose there is no helping it."

"I'm glad you understand, Alice. You'll always be welcomed at any other time." he watched her disappear into the snow. "Say hello to Marisa for me."

All that remained behind was the white skinned youth who came with her. They met eye to eye for a while, speaking no words to one another, then he left, hurriedly after Alice.

For some reason, the youth felt he stared at him longer than he did with the Seven Colored Puppeteer.

* * *

"So who was that?" Miles asked as soon as he was caught up with Alice. She seemed to be especially annoyed today.

"Just some kid who thought he's on top of the world because his father was the village chief."

"Er. Is...Was there anything between the two of you? Were you two close?"

Alice glared back at him. At first Miles thought he stepped into a tripwire and mentally prepared himself for whatever execution she plans to do when they get home, but to his surprise she let out a small, melancholic laugh.

"Do you know how child-like you are sometimes, Miles? No, there isn't anything between us, and I don't think there will. I'm just one of those who he yet has conquered, and I do not plan to let that happen anytime soon."

After that Miles decided it would be better to let her cool off her steam. As they walked in silence he thought about the youth in the blue kimono. He remembered the youth's eyes. There was something about them that was vaguely familiar.

Of course. Miles realized what made him stare at the man. It occurred to him that the two of them are similar. He knew the eyes well, for he sees them everyday himself. Behind them were a heap of terrible secrets that he burdened alone, and Miles knows that too well himself.

Well, that's too bad. He wished good luck to whatever troubles the youth was having, and instead thought it was a huge shame that he didn't get to see that famed Suzunaan, in which shelved the demonic books he was interested in.

Inside his head he brainstormed for a way to get into Hakugyokurou.


	42. Day 5 - VI

**Day 5 - VI**

* * *

 **Nine hours ago...**

Takeyoshi, in his blue kimono and padded fur, walked to the town square. There was something there that had his attention. He stared at the dragon statue that stood in the middle. It was a gift by the kappa as a symbol of their long friendship, and its design was inspired by the Dragon God, the supreme deity that ruled all of Gensokyo. As one of the village's more remarkable landmarks(the eccentric bookstore Suzunaan comes to a close second), the statue serves as a convenient tool that could predict the weather, and at times, incidents. It is said that's its jaded eyes would turn to a deep, crimson color before an incident would happen. Takeyoshi, having lived his entire twenty years in the village, knew better than doubt its efficiency.

The first thing he saw waking up today was an erratic flashing outside his window. It was the dragon statue, and its eyes were flashing at a constant rate.

"Okay what the heck is this." The closer he approached to the statue, the more disturbed he felt. He never saw it like this before. The bright, blood-like red of its eyes blinked intensely, warning of an upcoming disaster that Takeyoshi couldn't possibly conceive of. He wondered if it was broken, but having remembered the countless times it had accurately predicted weathers and foretold previous incidents, he realized questioning the technological prowess of the kappa is a laughable cause. How did they construct such a thing, anyway? Did the Dragon God itself store some of its power in there?

"Well if it isn't the chief-to-be." a voice called out. His sharp instinct discerned it as a female voice, but was something about it that wasn't quite right.

What appears as a young girl with light blonde hair stepped into his view. In her hands she held a thin, wooden tablet called a shaku.

"Well if it isn't the _Prince_ ," Takeyoshi retorted, disappointed when he saw it was Toyosatomimi no Miko, or Miko for short. Despite looking and sounding like a young girl, Miko is referred to as a "prince". Rumors say that she is actually the incarnation of Prince Shotoku, a renowned politician in sixth century Japan, who was a _man_. "What can I help you with?"

Miko let out a small chuckle. She remembered the first time when she and Takeyoshi met. Ever since he found out that he had been flirting with an ex-man he habitually remained tense around her. His father shared a good laugh with her over this.

"Do you have any idea what is happening?" Miko asked.

"It's probably indicating some sort of incident," Takeyoshi said casually, but he couldn't take his eyes off the statue. "I've never seen it blinking like this before though."

"Ahem. Not the statue, boy." Miko flicked her purple robe she doubles as her cloak as she spread her arm out. "Do you know what is happening here, in Gensokyo?"

"What?" He shielded eyes and looked around for anything out of place. "Don't tell me some new cute youkai moved in here? The outside world sure is cruel, huh. What are their names, by the way?"

Takeyoshi's senseless lust for anything feminine proved to be quite entertaining for Miko. If she wasn't here on business today she would have let him voraciously tease her servant Futo. "Clear your mind of worldly desires for a minute. Have you heard about the lake?"

"Yeah, I hear it was pretty bad. Whole thing blew up. No trace of it left at all. Luckily our wells are ample with water. It'll take a long time to fully deplete them."

"I see." She held her shaku in the air, allowing some snow to pile up on it. The lake was unfortunate, but she thought its irrelevant to the current situation. Perhaps it was a distraction from the true matter at hand. "And what do you know of this strange weather, the snow?"

"That it's really damn annoying." Takeyoshi saw a few villagers passing by, staring at the statue. Soon there would be a crowd. Luckily it stopped flashing its eyes soon enough, however ominous its brief warning might be.

"It's more than just that, I fear." Miko, alongside Futo and a few other servants, were in a deep slumber until recently. The little trouble they caused for waking up after over a thousand years was considered the latest incident. When this snow arrived just some days ago, Miko grew suspicious of its appearance and conducted research in the time gap she slept through. The only thing she had definite evidences of was what people remember about the Spring Snow Incident. She deducted that it wouldn't be too much of an impossibility that it's reoccurring. But for what?

"Prince! Princeeee!" The voice of a girl called out to Miko. Takeyoshi recognized it, and he turned around in great hopes of him being right. He was. It was Mononobe no Futo, hermit and faithful servant to her prince Miko ever since their past lives. Like her prince, she is a relic of the past, but, unlike her prince, there is something painfully obvious as a clue to her authenticity.

"There appeareth to be an old man who wishes to speak with thee." Futo said, rolling off her thick ancient Japanese tongue. It was preserved as good as the youthful look her body maintained. Not only her accent is out of date, but so is her Heian-era clothes she refused to change. "The gent cameth out of nowhere and hadst a very much scary look beholding his face."

"Old man?" Miko questioned, but she figured it must be someone who wishes to convert into Taoism, the religious movement she currently leads as a figurehead in Gensokyo.

"Damn, who is that old man that scared little Futo?" Takeyoshi raised his fist. "I'm going to teach him a lesson for scaring my darling."

"Oh? So you have learned martial arts while I was out, Take?" The old man Futo mentioned stepped out. Gray hair, gray beard, green hakama, and a black katana. Youki Konpaku.

Takeyoshi stopped dead in his tracks. A cloud of darkness covered his unreadable face.

"I-I'm so sorry." He prostrated at the feet of the old swordsman.

Youki's loosened his natural scowl a moment later, laughing heartily the way a man of his age would laugh. "I see you are as ravenous as ever. Even grandmas like her are unsafe from your grasps," he said, directing at Futo, "I'd say, she's actually even older than me!"

Futo's face swelled as red as a tomato and angrily clenched her fists. "Who art thee calling a grandmother? I am a hermit, a shikaisen! Doth thee wish to die for a remark like that?"

Raising the guard of his sword with a single thumb, Youki replied with a glint in his eyes: "I do not plan for so yet."

Immediately Futo shivered and backed down. She was so frightened that she didn't even mind Takeyoshi physically comforting her.

Miko suppressed her desire to laugh. She questioned Youki. "You must be Youki Konpaku. Takeyoshi here speaks highly of you."

"I am just an old sword who wished to return to his homeland," he replied humbly.

"What do you want with me, then? Surely the one who suddenly reappeared from his decade long disappearance would have something worthy to say? You did not come all the way back here just to learn some of my Taoist tricks, are you?" Miko showed him a bunch of Taoist paper charms under her robe.

"Spare me the lectures, O Prince. You know why I am here. I'm here for _**that**_ to happen, like how the calm stream must flow to empower the raging waterfall."

The Prince did not bother to feign ignorance at Youki's answer. Instead she flashed a sly smile at the aging veteran.

" _That_?" Takeyoshi looked at the two of them cluelessly. "What's _that_? And old man, don't act so mysterious when you just came back here. I seriously thought you were a ghost when you appeared in my room the other day. Well, you _are_ a ghost, but you know what I mean. You are gonna tell me what happened all these years now, wouldn't you? This is something the whole village deserves to know. Heck, I'll even throw it in as a holiday, so everybody could celebrate your return. To hell with all this snow, with you here we could overcome anything!" He was able to merrily place an arm around Futo and compliment on her grayish hair when Youki suddenly drew his sword. He sat down in the snow cross-legged and would have performed a quick and clean seppuku if Takeyoshi did not go frantically out of his way to stop him.

 _"_ WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU OLD GEEZER?" He was going to forcefully inquire if Youki had finally gone senile when the swordsman dropped his toughness and began to cry. Tears slid down his ragged cheeks as his once firm hands shook while holding onto his trusted blade. Shocked at the sudden reveal of his fragility, Takeyoshi could do nothing but look at the face of the man he so once admired.

"Take...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." Youki couldn't control the weakness in his voice.

"What...? Why are you sorry for?"

"That...I couldn't protect your father. Take, your father...he is dead."


	43. Day 5 - VII

**Day 5 - VII**

* * *

"G-Good morning!" a blushing village girl greeted him on the streets as usual.

Takeyoshi smiled and wave back, but he was fixated on things other than women today. He walked out the village gate and surveyed the farm lands. The promising crops from spring were utterly crushed by the snow. On the whole the village practices subsistence farming, and with the spring crops gone there would be no fresh food on the table for a while. Fortunately they still have a fair share of crops uneaten from last season, and there is a plenty of preserved food stored. It would be some time before they go hungry. Just like the abundant wells around the village, the human village was prepared. It was a simple yet wise safety precaution planned by no other than his father.

But, as Takeyoshi heard from Youki, he is now dead. According to the old swordsman who had returned, his father Hachirou was ambushed by a group of feral youkai, and Youki had failed to save him in time.

The knowledge of his father's death came to be a surreal shock. The last time they were together was at dinner, and Hachirou was poking fun of his habit to relentlessly girls. The next day he disappeared, and a month later he was apparently dead, leaving his son immediately inherit his position. No others villagers were aware of this yet, but Takeyoshi feared for the grief of the villagers over his own grief of his father. They loved Hachirou. He was one of their finest chiefs, being a people's man and always looking out for them. It was hard to believe he was dead. What if Youki was just messing with him? His father seemed to be the type of person to pull something like that. He did get his laidback personality from him after all. But Youki's seppuku attempt was dangerously serious. His sword, the Raikokuken, is capable of slicing through spirits. Despite not being a tanto, the more traditional weapon used for the disembowelment, his sword is able to pierce through his ghost half as well as his human body, being the only way to fully kill a member of the half ghost Konpaku clan. It was even harder to believe that someone like Youki would go that far just for a prank.

As of now the old swordsman is at Takeyoshi's mansion. He seemed greatly unnerved after having denied an impulsive seppuku, and is ashamed of it. Miko told Takeyoshi she would take of him and that he take a walk to clear his mind. The walk did not help. It only made him more uneasy. He watched a few kids run past, playing with the snow, a few villagers cursing at them for disrupting their shoveling. This village is now officially entrusted to him. Could he ever handle a responsibility like that? While he was growing up he never was bothered by the looming shadow that is his inheritance. _I'll worry about it when the time comes_ , he'd always tell himself when reminded of it, leaving the problem to a more mature him in the future. But that was only when he thought his old man is going to die of an old, ripe age, not in the spring of his youth, when his quest of conquering Gensokyo his own way was yet to be fulfilled.

"That old bastard, leaving behind everything without as much of a word." he muttered, trying to think how he was going to deliver the news to the village. No, not even the village. The faithful servants who served him and his father wouldn't be able to bear the terrible news like that. They simply loved him too much.

Takeyoshi sighed, stared at the snow covered fields for a while, and turned around and went back to his mansion. He was surprised to find Youki and Miko already waiting for him by the entrance. The two had been waiting for him, it seemed.

"Finally returned, have we?" Miko said, the tip of her shaku covering her lips.

"We must talk someplace where we can't be bothered, my lord." Youki said, bowing slightly.

' _My lord'?_ He couldn't help but cringe at the title. There was a tale about one of the earliest chiefs of the village. Before the establishment of Gensokyo and the human village, he was one of the lesser servants who served an emperor of the outside Japan. The tale eventually came to describe him receiving a bit of divinity from the emperor—who was a descendant from the almighty god Amaterasu—as a reward for their excellent loyalty. Ever since then this flake of divinity was passed down to every successor of the village chiefs, regardless of their different bloodlines or origins. It was only several generations ago that the leaders of the village no longer viewed as something of a deity, being the one ray of hope for the helpless humans in Gensokyo.

When Takeyoshi came around people had long stopped addressing village chiefs as a god. They see them as a respectable leader who is as every bit human as everybody else. So when Youki suddenly referred to him as his lord, it caught him off guard greatly. He wasn't used to this type of reception, and he doesn't think he ever will get comfortable around it. Hopefully it was just a slip of tongue and wouldn't be ever mentioned again.

They went to his study and shut the doors after making explicit orders for the servants to stay away and not eavesdrop. Not that they minded anyway, they were too excited about the return of the long gone master Youki. Takeyoshi guided them to sit around a small tea table. He wondered what the two had talked about while he was away.

"On second thought, call back your servants." Miko said when they all sat by the table, "I imagine we would need a good cup of tea for this."

When the hot, steaming tea arrived, only Youki and Miko was having small talk. Takeyoshi was slowly getting nervous. What important matter needed to be discussed that a cup of tea was practically required?

Sipping on the green tea, Miko nonchalantly asked where Youki had gone off to during the past ten years. Not straight getting to the point was unsettling, but Takeyoshi listened closely, as he is interested in this as well.

"I visited the outside world." Youki said bluntly after sipping his tea. "Hm. Nothing can compare to tea here."

 _That was fast_ , Takeyoshi thought. _I was thinking for sure he would try to dodge the question._

"Where have you visited?" Miko pressed further.

"'Visited' might not be the right word. I wandered. The world's really changed since the Barrier was erected. Japan is nothing like from what I remember two hundred years ago."

"Why did you leave without saying anything, old man? You could have at least told us beforehand. We thought you were dead." Unable to suppress his pent-up curiosity of Youki's mysterious disappearance case over the years, Takeyoshi decided it was a good time to ask now, even if that's not what they are here for.

"I had urgent business out there. For ten years I wandered around the world. Eventually I succeeded, and that is all that matters."

"So..."

"So enough about me," Youki said firmly, looking intently at him. "We are here to discuss about you, my lord."

"Me?" Takeyoshi raised an eyebrow. "And what's up with that 'my lord' thing? Would you please stop doing that?"

"I'm afraid that is impossible, my lord." Youki replied.

"As he say, my lord." Miko, unable to hide her amusement, joined with him.

"There better be a good reason for this."

"There is." Miko showed a low smile. "Do you remember the dream you had as a kid?"

"Dream? What dream? And why do you know about my past? Did you not just wake from your thousand year old slumber a little while ago?"

"I told her." Youki responded for her. " When you were small you had a strange dream about a dragon."

"Dragon...Oh. You mean _that_ dream?" Despite not having thought about it for some time, he could still remember it with clarity. The vision of a majestic serpentine dragon uncoiling and speaking to him from the sky.

 _"You...You are my child, the prince who shall deliver the humans from suffering..."_

Its booming voice repeated the words over and over until he woke up drenched in sweat. He found Youki and his father and told them everything he saw. The dream disturbed him greatly, and even as time passed by he could not forget it. Was there any significance to this dream? He never got to find out, and don't think he ever will.

"Yeah, I remember." he said, the images of the great dragon appearing in his head, "what about it?"

"I know what it signifies now, my lord." Youki said, "The truth is, I was actually in the outside world to look for an answer for your dream."

"You...did?"

"Yes, and I have found it." Youki's grimaced and faced the table. "I am ashamed in my inability to protect your father. Just as when I brought good news home."

"Just...go on with my dream. I'm sure the old man would want you to deliver the news safely."

"The dragon you saw," Youki looked up and continued, his long beard touching the able, "it must be the Dragon God. I'm sure of it. The highest god in Gensokyo."

Takeyoshi gasped lightly. _That_ Dragon God? The sole creator of Gensokyo? The Voice that Divides the Sky?

"Are you sure it's not just some youkai playing with me? I think there are youkai that could mess with people's dreams."

"No, I'm sure of it. The Dragon God does not appear to anyone it does not deem worthy, and any youkai would know better than to dare imitate its form."

The Dragon God. What an honor must it be for him to have it shown its grace. But he couldn't comprehend it. He couldn't comprehend its questionable choice.

"Why me? Why me out of everyone else? I'm just a human. If the Dragon God wants humans I'm sure the Hakurei shrine maiden would do."

"Because the Dragon God has chosen you," Miko said. "Do you think it has the free time to pull pranks like some mindless fairy?"

He went silent after a few stutters.

"Based on what I have learned from traveling," Youki said, "there was an old prophecy that predicted a human in Gensokyo would be chosen as the Dragon Heir, son of the Dragon God. It is said that they would be the ones to bring the humans salvation and free them from the youkai. There is no doubt about it, your highness. The Dragon Heir is you. It even called you its prince in your dream, did it not?"

Prince. That was a title he never expected anyone to have in his lifetime, and now it was bestowed to him regardless of his will.

"Funny. Now there are two princes in town," Miko sneered, "except I guess you're more powerful in name than me."

"Did my father know this?" Takeyoshi slowly asked.

"He knew your dream was special ever since the day you told us. Your father was the one who sent me to discover its true meaning. It was...truly unfortunate that he couldn't make it. But fret not, my lord. I'm sure he will be proud that his son grew up to be such a fine man."

"Your father knew a lot of other things too, apparently." Miko said. "Tell me, do you know where that human you've sent Yukari to locate is right now?"

"Human?" At first Takeyoshi wasn't aware what she was talking about. Yukari hasn't been pestering him recently, and that was good. It was a reason why winter used to be his favorite season. He figured the strange snow today drove her to hibernation. "What human are you talking about?"

"You know, that human who your father requested you to coax Yukari to bring over."

"Oh, him. Well, I don't have the slightest clue on where he is right now. In fact I don't even know if he's alive out there."

"He must be, because this snow is still going. I am aware of this ancient tale of a poet who-"

"Prince, we are going off topic here." Youki suddenly raised his voice and interrupted Miko, who smirked in response and casually apologized for her rudeness. "I'm sure this is a lot to bear, your highness. However, you must remain strong and become a symbol for the people. That is your duty as the son of the Dragon. You are the Dragon Prince."

"But...what am I supposed to do? As a Dragon Heir, or Prince, I mean." Takeyoshi was getting flustered. First he was greeted by the news of his father's death. Now he's getting told that he is the heir of a great god and must lead the humans to an impossible salvation. He wondered, just for a moment, that if all this surrealism was a just a bad dream.

"First we must do something about this snow." Youki answered. "As for your identity, we shall keep it as a secret for the time being." When he saw Takeyoshi still looked a little shocked and was practically staring into space, he sighed and told him that he could go out for a bit. Take a break, eat some lunch, and maybe flirt with a few villager girls, because after today, he would no longer be the succeeding chief of the village, but the avatar of the Dragon God who legends say could summon his powers at will. He is going to have to discard his humanity, the one thing he prides the most.

* * *

When Takeyoshi left, Miko laid back on the tatami floor.

"You killed him, haven't you?" she stared at the ceiling, not really expecting a reply. "Someone as important as chief of the human village don't just disappear like that."

Youki drew his sword and pointed it at her neck. "How dare are you suggesting such a vile thought? Give me a reason on not executing you here and now."

Miko smiled, still staring at the ceiling, then she sat up, ignored the blade, and drank her tea. "Don't need to get your wrinkly ghost half all puffed up now. I'll play along with whatever you and Hachirou are planning, because in the end, it's only more followers for me."

Youki narrowed his eyes, trying to determine if Toyosatomimi no Miko is truly trustworthy. He sheathed the Raikokuken in silence and gazed at Takeyoshi's untouched cup of tea. It was still steaming.

 _I'm sorry, Take, but this is for the greater good. You will understand when you have your honor torn apart, just as I had_.


	44. Day 6 - I

**Day 6 - I**

* * *

It had been a rough night for Miles, because he had the worst wake up experience in his life this morning. He couldn't decide what was more surprising; waking unto a world of pain, or waking up at all. The blazing passion to see the cherry blossom of his dreams consumed him, and before he knew it, he tried to kill himself. He figured the reason why Alice and the others couldn't get inside Hakugyoukuro is because they're still alive. Why would the dead allow the living to disturb them? Dying is the only logical way to get in.

At first he considered cutting his wrist, but he figured the mysterious healing factor he possesses would treat the cut in no time, so he went for the ol' reliable: the noose. When the rope was set he jumped in without hesitation. He thought of at least leaving a suicide note to Alice. She's in for a big surprise in the morning. The note, however was never written, as he figured it would have taken him the whole night to write.

Anyone would be surprised to wake up in the morning after you hang yourself, and when Miles unexpectedly regained conscious, he was no exception. Everything was dark and quiet for him, and he thought he saw the gates of Hakugyoukurou when suddenly the torturous feeling of gasping for air overwhelmed him. He opened his eyes as pain and confusion fought against one another. It felt like an eternity, but after a while he finally managed to get himself off the rope. He laid on the floor, struggling to gain his breath. What happened? He could have swore that he hanged himself last night. There was the initial struggling, yes, but soon it went black. He was dead, but somehow he came back to life again the next day. Is the healing factor _that_ strong?

Miles took a deep breath and sat on his bed. His life to him now seemed to have lost a little value, as he had died twice in one day. The previous life and death experience with Hina only showed him how short and cheap mortality could be. A ring of deep purple surrounded his neck, and he grunted in pain even when moving his head a little.

 _Great, so I can't even kill myself now._ He stared outside the window. Out there was a wonderland made of snow. The only way to see the Netherland now is to ask Alice to bring him there.

He couldn't find her at all when he went down the stairs. There was a plate of questionably colored food, which he thought must be his breakfast. Next to it was a well written note in English from Alice explaining that she had business again today. Hourai and a few dolls flew by and greeted him good morning in their ways, then left to attend their chores.

After he ate he walked around the house, contemplating. How will he explain it to Alice when she comes back? Should he avoid telling her his suicide attempt altogether and beg her to take him to the land of the dead? He decided to sit down and gather his thoughts. First he gathered what he know, or what he thinks he know. The reoccurring dreams and the intense nostalgia he felt ever since setting foot in Gensokyo must indicate that he had once lived here. But when? He could not recall for his life of a moment being in Gensokyo before. Was he a clinically dangerous sleep walker? If he used to live here, then it would make sense that he could speak Japanese as well. Perhaps that explains why he was able to learn it at an extremely fast speed. No, he wasn't even learning it, he was remembering. At this point he could speak extremely well and hold a normal conversation with Alice with ease. Reading and writing is a piece of cake as well.

But what about his ability to seemly heal himself? How does that support his theory of being a former citizen? He remembered that the youkai are immortal in terms of aging, and they mend their physical wounds in seconds. Is he a youkai then? But that doesn't make any sense. Is he _half_ a youkai then?

Miles rubbed his head in frustration. Overthinking it doesn't help. He was about to go upstairs and give the noose another try when he heard a gentle knock at the door. Was Alice expecting any guests? Maybe they will think Alice is out and leave if he stays quiet. They knocked again, louder this time. Miles chose to ignore it, but much to his dismay one of Alice's dolls went to get it, cheerfully.

It was Hina.

"Hello."

Miles' first instinct was to slam the door, but he remembered Hina had gave up on killing him. Or so she said. Whatever the case, he doubt she could get through his seemingly overpowered, death-denying healing factor. Maybe she's here to pester him about the big cloud of misfortune he has.

"Uh, hi. What brings you here?"

Hina maintained her smile, but she doesn't say anything. Instead she stared at him from top to bottom, then bottom to top. After that she went past him and stared at his back the same fashion.

"What happened to your misfortune?"

"Uh..." He was still fazed by the awkwardness. "What did you say?"

"They're gone."

"Huh?" Miles raised both of his eyebrows and then sneezed. He shut the door. "What are you talking about? Didn't you say I had them yesterday?"

"I did." She held her hand out towards him and closed her eyes. "But I don't sense anything now. You hold normal amount of misfortune a human should have. What did you do with those? Where did you hide them?"

Despite Miles' protests Hina began poking around Alice's house, trying to locate where has Miles hid his cluttered misfortune. When she couldn't find anything she placed her hands on her hips and scowled. "This is truly strange. Where could they have gone off to?"

"Don't ask me," Miles said, "you're the misfortune god here."

"Did you feel anything strange today? Did someone do anything to you? I came down the mountain today to check on you, but I certainly did not expect this to happen."

Miles thought about his rude and painful awakening, but figured that's not a good conversational topic with a goddess. "No, not really. I felt perfectly fine when I woke up today."

Hina closed her eyes again. "There is no trace of them anywhere. It's like...they disappeared."

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Mile scratched his head.

"I suppose, but it's too odd. Misfortune do not just disappear like that. Oh, what is this?"

"What's going on?"

Hina did not reply. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on her long range vision.

"The misfortune...it's back to everybody now. They've found their rightful places." She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Huh...they did?"

"I don't know what you did, but I suppose you are fine now. The balance has been restored. Although..." she stared outside a window.

"Although?"

"Although the process rather felt like how it goes when you die. Your misfortune was scattered and distributed to everyone else. Everything else, besides plants and insects, has received their bit of your collected mass."

Miles could not say anything. He nodded, but he was in a deep thought.

"But that could not have been, because you're still alive." Hina turned around and smiled. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. By the way, what is that purple ring around your neck? Are you okay?"

He felt his neck and accidentally touched the ring too hard. Powering through the pain he managed to articulate his Japanese to a comprehensible extent. "Yeah uh...those are from Alice. She was...she was actually a huge sadist and tried to put a collar on me last night and I—"

Hina bursted out laughing. "Ahahahaha! Sorry. I knew she was someone like that. Well, I'm not going to poke into you two's business." She turned her back to him. "Sorry for trying to kill you yesterday, I simply did what I felt I had to do. Come and find me on the Youkai Mountain if you happen to stop by."

"Er...I doubt I would have the time. I mean I don't even live here—"

But Hina was gone. All that remained was a tiny, dark purple swirling symbol on where she stood, and it eventually faded away into the floor. Miles gazed at the spot with a blank expression. It's possible that he had already found an answer to the sudden disappearance of his misfortune. There is no other explanation. He must have really died yesterday. That's why they were spread out to everything in Gensokyo. But somehow he's revived again. Is death really that cheap?

He looked out the same window where Hina stared at, expecting the snow to answer his questions, and if not, at least provide some sort of clue. But all he found was something worse. Outside the house was a line of dead birds, and some still dropped from the sky as he was watching. They twitched erratically as they died. And then Miles saw it was not just the birds. The squirrels that lived in the forest that surrounded Alice's house jumped out of the trees and went limp after a crazed spasm.

"Jesus Mary and Joseph," he muttered the religious expression his father always used when something goes awry. "What the hell is all this?"

The trees too. They were withered and completely lifeless. Now that he thought about it, weren't they already dead yesterday? Alice did mention something about plants dying. Now the animals too? Just what is going on in Gensokyo right now? He felt as if he had come during the worst time.


	45. Day 6 - II

**Day 6 - II**

* * *

Takeyoshi never thought he would have to do it again this soon. How fortune it must be for Reimu Hakurei. It took him a great deal of time, and he doesn't know whether to feel hot or cold, but in the end the stairs were once proved again they are no match for the Dragon Prince. When he arrived he immediately dropped the large bag of coins and fell on the cold, snowy ground. The torn gaps in his bamboo hat invited several flakes of snow on his face, but he doesn't care.

He is here today to negotiate. The money he brought are not free offerings to the shrine. He finally got to know why he was tasked by his father to bring Reimu the absurd amount of donations some time ago. Youki explained it to him yesterday. It was essentially a full out bribery. Reimu should already align her interests with the human village, but the money is what seals the deal. Her loyalty would be bought to secure an invaluable ally for the village. Not that Takeyoshi could blame her. In fact, he felt sorry for the girl. She hasn't got a single yen for years, all because the villagers are disturbed by the fact that she allow the youkai to hang around her shrine. They are supposed to be exterminated by her, yet over the years she developed a sense of mercy that most humans find questionable. It's kind of a miracle on how she survived this far with the minimal funding.

In any case, he's here. All he needs to do is to talk out an agreement. He took a deep breath and got up, dragged the large bag through the snow with two hands. When he arrived at the shrine, Reimu is nowhere to be seen.

 _Strange, is she out?_ Takeyoshi stared at the empty kotatsu inside. He took out a coin from the bag and dropped it inside the already full donation box. Sure enough, the sound of it clinking with other coins alone attracted the shrine maiden like a fly to honey, and she appeared before him in no time.

"Welcome! Welcome! What brings you to the humble reliable Hakurei shrine?" Reimu smiled, rubbing her hands. Takeyoshi wasn't sure if it was from the cold or her avarice. "Oh. It's just you."

"What do you mean 'oh, it's just you'? I'm your biggest benefactor here, aren't I? Show me some respect, you shrine maiden of poverty."

He had meant that as a joke, but Reimu lost her excitement. "Yeah sure. What do you want with me? Wait, what is this?" She sniffed the air repeatedly. The bag he brought along turned out to be the source of the apparent smell he wasn't aware of. "This smell...it couldn't be. What is inside that?"

"Oh, this?" He pointed it backwards with his thumb. "Behold, life savings enough to send your grandchildren to school." They were gold. Every single one of the coins were made of genuine gold. Reimu witnessed a sight she thought she would never would dream of. The dazzling gleam was too much for her eyes, and so she passed out right where she stood.

"H-Hey! Don't faint now! Get a hold of yourself!"

* * *

When Reimu regained conscious she found herself laid by the kotatsu. Takeyoshi was sitting by the porch, staring towards the gray sky. The first thing she did was to check for her clothes. They were intact. Good. She doesn't feel anything funny with her body either. Takeyoshi was never really interested in her for some reason, but that doesn't mean she's going to drop her guard around him.

"Had a good dream?" he asked, his back facing towards her.

"Felt like I saw something that could feed me for my next three lives." Reimu wiped away the trail of dried up saliva from her cheek.

"Well, they are real as your nonexistent chest, all right, and they're yours to keep, if we could discuss it out."

"What's that?" All she heard is the first part. Takeyoshi spread open the mouth of the bag and let the golden rays pour out. It was the most beautiful sight she's ever seen, and, oh no, she's going to faint again.

"C'mon now, I'm not leaving until we have an agreement, so don't go sleep on me again." Takeyoshi shook her by the shoulders to anchor her in the physical world. He grabbed a handful of coins from her donation box and dropped them in her hands. That seemed to do the trick.

"Keep your hands away from my preciousss!"

"Look, I'll make this quick." He pointed at the bag. "You want that, right?"

Reimu nodded so hard he worried that she might drop her head.

"Well, it's not exactly an offering."

"Tell me what you want! I'll sell my body if I have to."

"Whoa whoa, what happened to the 'snow-white purity' you pride so much upon? No dignity."

Reimu tried to bring out her latent feminine charms by posing suggestively, but Takeyoshi looked away uninterested, his eye solemn. He tossed her a coin from the bag. "Here, get serious for a while."

"Of course," she clenched the coin in her hand and transformed her expression into one someone would have when a person died and they're at their funeral. Suddenly she had her gohei in her hands. "What do you need me to do? Exterminate some troublesome youkai? They wouldn't ever be bothering you again."

"Now that's the spirit. Listen, you know a lot about the Hakurei Barrier, right? Not many know this, but tending it is one of your main jobs as the shrine maiden."

"Did Yukari tell you this? To answer your question, hell yeah I do, what do you take me for? I tend it everyday even with my injuries."

 _Injuries. So that's what those are for._ Takeyoshi gazed at Reimu's bandages around her abdomen. It was a little scary to think that there are someone out there who could do this to her. "Good, good." He looked at the skies again, a few inches of snow snow sliding of his hat. "Just to be sure, you'll do anything in exchange for the money, right? _Anything?_ "

"Anything. If you wish to violate me though, please try to do so outside the shrine grounds."

"A shrine maiden shouldn't say that vulgar stuff, you know." But he smiled at her carefree attitude. Reimu had always reminded him of himself, and as a result they got along quite well. It saddens him to think that she will only serve as a remainder of the man he used to be in the future, when this is all over. "Well then, to cut to the chase, I wish to conceal the physical nature of the human village, and so I want you to create a smaller version of the Hakurei Barrier around the its vicinity."

"'Kay."

"Make your preparations. We will start at noon." He fell silent, then turned around, incredulous. "Wait, it was that easy? I was thinking for sure that you would refuse."

"I've been wanting to do this for a while now. The only thing that held me back is me doing it without you and Yukari's permission."

Reimu is proficient at combating the youkai, but more than often she had to hold back her powers. Usually it's more than enough to get the job done, but there were times when she had to reveal her true power. She is worried that the human village will only get in her way, and everything would be her fault, if something happens to them.

"You have mine, but what about Yukari?"

Reimu thought about it for a while. "Screw her."

Takeyoshi nodded. It was yesterday that Youki and Miko informed him of this plan. Even now he still has troubling believing that he is the Dragon Prince, but this is a task he was obliged to do even if he wasn't. He was told that the strange snow in Gensokyo right now is killing off all living things by sapping their life energy, and eventually it would get strong enough to affect the humans. There is no surefire solution to stop it, but they could try to shield the village from its harm completely. That is where Reimu comes in.

The Great Hakurei Barrier is what separates Gensokyo from the outside world. In a nutshell it works by cloaking the land's physical presence, resulting a wide and empty mountain range at where it should be in the outside world. There are very few ways to enter. Accidental cases of "spiriting away" in one's dreams (demonstrated by the late Wendy Hearn) are the most common, the passage from the Hakurei shrine being the most reliable, and Yukari's gaps remains the most unpredictable.

Reimu, and by extension, her predecessors, were tasked to maintain it on a regular basis. They are to find and repair minor damages, spot for any irregularities, and send back humans who had wandered in, essentially being border patrols. Having worked with the Barrier ever since her first day taking up the title of the Hakurei shrine maiden, Reimu has a profound knowledge of it and how it works. When combined with her ridiculous amount of divine power, she at one point in time theorized that it is possible to create a smaller and unrefined version of it. Of course, it is by no means better than the real one, but it should be able to do its job.

"It's not my place to tell you to stop," said Reimu, crossing her arms, "and to honest, I'd kill for that bag of gold, but are you sure you want to do this? It may...actually prove be a bad idea, just saying."

"I am aware of the risks."

"Which includes unstable landmass, random teleporatation, common earthquakes, slower or faster passage of time, mass hallucination, mass schizophrenia, increased chances of cancer, unnatural weathers within the boundary (I think that's kind of happening now), the barrier might solidify and become materialized, eventually leading to asphyxiation when trapped in a dome like this, and insomnia. Oh, and also the space within might collapse and your whole village might get erased from existence. Ah," she slapped her forehead, "son of a bitch, now that I actually think about it, it _is_ a bad idea. Why do you want this? Why did _I_ want this?"

"Look, Reimu, the truth is, I..." Takeyoshi is desperate to tell her. He needed someone to talk out his troubles to. He had been friends with Reimu ever since they were young, and she might listen and help him out...No, he can't. It's a burden he must carry alone. There is no sense in dragging her into this. "No, never mind. It's not for me to say. I can't tell you why."

"Yay, secrets. Well, too bad for you, my shrine maiden instincts are already kicking in, and there is _no way_ in hell I'm ever doing this."

"But the money..."

"The money could go shove your stupid idea up its ass. Your offerings are nice, nicer than anything I could ever ask for, but this is strictly going against my code. You out of all people should know that the Hakurei shrine maiden has to look out for the human village. Do you seriously think I was gonna help you on such a dumb, irresponsible plan? I don't even know if I do undo the barrier after it's put up."

"Well, you were looking quite excited about it before..."

"Shut up, that doesn't matter! Now, if you don't have anything else to say, please leave. Shoo. I need some peace to get my wound healed." Reimu laid down on the floor, covered in the kotatsu like a blanket. "Ow, what the fuck, it still hurts. I swear I'm gonna teach that little bloodsucker a lesson one day. At this rate I wouldn't be able to send that guy away..."

"Hm? Guy? What guy?"

"Yo!" Just then a familiar voice both of them recognized came from the stairs. "How are my favorite two humans in this place doing? You two should mate, you know? Produce a child that carries the strength of the ogre maiden and the father's capability to look for more potential partners to pass the traits on. Oh my, now that I think about it, isn't that the ideal beast of savagery? Truly fitting."

"You? What are you doing here?" Reimu rose up. Miko smirked, smacking her shaku in her palm lightly. She snapped a finger. A tall, muscular man leaped from the stairs to a great height, carrying a wooden cart full of precious gems and jewels. He landed on the shrine grounds with grace, half naked and dripping with glistening sweat. "I figured she's not going to comply, so I brought some of these as precaution."

"Please watch your mouth, Prince, and do not insult him with such slanders." Youki boomed.

"Ahaha, that was a joke. You seemed to have a sense for humor yesterday."

Takeyoshi was stunned. His eyes are glued at the cart full of jewelry. Even he had never seen such riches before. "Where...where did you even get those?"

"Oh, they're simply offerings from another lifetime. I found heaps of them lying around my mausoleum the other day." Miko pointed her shaku at the donation box. "Let's bring it over there, old man."

 _That should make the negotiation easier._ Takeyoshi, feeling more confident at the sight of backup, turned around, only to find Reimu intently prostrating by his feet.

"I belong to you now, sir." she spoke, sniffling from tears of true ecstasy. "Do what you will with this lowly slave."

"Well that was easy." Miko scoffed, her purple robe waving gently in the wind. "I was expecting more of a show. Human greed is truly what makes the world go round."


	46. Day 6 - III

**Day 6 - III**

* * *

Rinnosuke Morichika could not sleep. He tossed and turned the whole night, trying to contain his excitement. When morning came by he gave up. All of this is due to the smart phone. It took him a while, but Miles' phone had finally begun charging. The workaround for the persistent problem was a custom made cable he made from scratch. After some minor modifications a tiny amount of Marisa's leftover energy in the mini-hakkero started to flow, having converted to electricity. It was a major breakthrough for him, Gensokyo, and the thaumaturgy studies of the outside world. Unfortunately Rinnosuke did not see the significance of his discovery and would not get around sharing his results.

He stretched and looked outside the window. The girls must have been working hard to solve the mysteries behind this snow, but for him, it's just another day. Lying on a nearby worktable was the smart phone, now having charged 2% of its batteries, as the sole battery symbol signified in the middle of the black screen. While he does not know whether or not that was the normal charging speed of a smart phone, he was satisfied that it was actually working. Though as this rate it might not be ready for Miles' departure tomorrow. It was a shame, but while he may not have proved himself useful regarding to his technology, it was rather a great privilege to work on it, and he felt he had learn many new things about the world he came from.

The outside world.

How long had it been since that visit? The memories of the experience was foggy in his head. All he knew was that Yukari Yakumo appeared before him one day and sent him on an errand to the outside world. He met a human girl and...what did he do for her? He couldn't remember. The whole experience felt like a blink of an eye, and it did not help when he suddenly found himself back in Kourindou, as if nothing was ever happened.

He had accepted the offer without hesitation. The outside world had always fascinated him, and how could he ever deny a chance to see it with his own eyes, behind his own glasses? If only he knew that he would not remember much of it. Maybe he should ask Miles. He did come from there, after all. Perhaps he might have known the girl?

There was a knock on the door. A customer? That was rare. It couldn't have been Reimu or Marisa, because they always barge in without knocking. Perhaps Alice ran out of her stock of tea already. Rinnosuke went for the door and found Miles waiting for him, his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his coat and is covered in snow.

"Hey there. I thought you were closed for a second."

"Miles? What are you doing here? Come on in, don't just stand there in the snow."

Miles shook his head and looked at the direction where he came from. "It's fine. I'm just here to ask you a something. Do you know where is the Hakugyokurou?"

"Hakugyoku..." Rinnosuke trailed off, "wait, you don't mean the place where the dead go? Why do you want to know that?"

"Do you know where it is, Rinnosuke?"

There was something unsettling behind his voice. Maybe Miles already caught a cold from this freak weather. "Er, I have a vague idea, but Alice should know more than I do. Where is she, by the way?"

"Alice is out at the moment. I thought you might know, so I came here."

"By yourself?"

"I remember the way from last time. Do you know it or not?"

"Well," Rinnosuke scratched his head, "I mostly heard it from Marisa, but the gate that leads to the land of the dead supposedly rests on a cloud somewhere in Gensokyo. Not sure where though."

Miles looked up at the sky for a while, then he sighed. "I see. Thanks. Mind if I take a look around your shop?"

He smiled. "Sure."

Rinnosuke let Miles in and shut the door. He helped him dust off the snow on his clothes, then accompanied him as they browsed through sections of his shop. He show him around proudly, explaining the significance of each item and how he had came upon them (though every once in a while he was corrected as some of the explanations were misleading or simply wrong). His stock was mostly scavenged around various parts of Gensokyo, but sometimes Yukari Yakumo would show up and leave something she picked up in the world out there. She considers Kourindou as a dump for such things. Rinnosuke didn't mind, in fact he welcomed her "littering" with open arms. That was the purpose of the shop anyway. To share his passion for all things associated with the technological and scientific world out there, Kourindou was opened to stockpile such curious artifacts that found their way to here. Built just by the entrance of the Forest of Magic, it is intended to attract both youkai and human customers, although he rarely ever sold his items. The only regular who actually bothered to buy anything was Alice when she ran out of things to drink.

Miles didn't really find anything to his liking, saying that most of his wares were boring everyday objects people had. Rinnosuke didn't mind his comment. It may be so for them, but they were valued here in Gensokyo.

"By the way, you are a youkai, right?" Miles asked out of the blue.

"Only half. I don't age as fast and don't have to eat a lot, but I'm about as human as you."

"Even so you get to live quite long, don't you? Tell me, what is your thought on the concept of...living forever?"

"Now that's quite the question. Are you talking about biological immortality?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

"Well, if you ask me, immortality is just a burden. One should enjoy their lives to its fullest and end happily without any regrets. Immortality, on the other hand, makes your life dull and changes your perspective, usually to a negative one. The people you once loved and cared for would be gone as well." Rinnosuke looked down, trying to not think about the future, and what will become of Marisa. "Hey Miles, you know what I realized?" Rinnosuke looked up and smiled. "You are fluent at Japanese now. Very fluent. I think even your accent was gone. How did you do it?"

Miles pursed his lips and averted his eyes. "I guess Alice was a good teacher."

"No, really. A few days ago you had trouble speaking and Alice had to translate for you to keep the conversation flowing. I wouldn't say you were bad but you looked like you wasn't ready to speak. Now look at you, casually discussing philosophy with me."

"You don't want to know Alice's way of teaching, then." Miles said. staring at the ceiling. Rinnosuke frowned. What happened to Miles? He seems oddly different today. "By the way," he asked, "how is my phone?"

"Oh, you have to see the progress I'm making. It's finally charging."

Rinnosuke lead Miles to his room where the phone was, lying on a small table and connected with Marisa's mini-hakkero through a cable made of materials he never thought would be used. "It's only 2%, but it's working."

"2%? That's not bad."

"Is that the normal charging speed for you?"

"If I have to be honest, no. A smart phone like this should easily get to 100% in a few hours. I think you are doing pretty good though. Never expected a backwards place like Gensokyo being able to charge a phone like this."

"That's the magic of this place. It's not always what it appears to be. You see, I had to make this cable from a material that conducts light magic well so that the bits of remaining energy from the mini-hakkero would flow to the phone's charging port. But it needed electricity, not light energy, so I then modified the wires inside the cable and..." Rinnosuke blinked. "Oh I'm so sorry, I don't mean to get it so detailed like that."

Miles smiled dryly. "That's okay. It's good to talk to a guy around here anyway. You can keep the phone."

"The phone? What do you—A-Are you saying I can have it?"

"Yeah."

"But I can't take something as valuable as this! Isn't this worth a lot in your world?"

"It's rather expensive, yes, but I could always get another one."

Rinnosuke couldn't believe it. He had always dreamed of owning something like this. Just how rich was Miles, being able to afford more of this? "Are you sure about this?"

"I wouldn't be needing it anytime soon. Take it."

The shop owner adjusted his glasses, still having a hard time to grasp the offer clearly.

"Have fun with it." Miles headed for the door. "See you around."

"Ah, please wait a minute."

"I'm not going to argue with you. Just keep the damn thing."

"Oh, no, that's not it, but I do thank you for this. I mean it." Rinnosuke did a sincere half bow. "Miles, before you entered my shop, you asked me a question. Now, since you are leaving, do you mind if I ask one?"

He stopped. "What is it?"

"You see Miles, the truth is, I visited your world not so long ago myself, and while I can't remember most of it, I do recall on meeting this human girl. She had blonde hair and looked just like you, Alice, and a few other people that I know of. White, I think what's what you call it. Or was it Caucasian?" Rinnosuke paused, then realized what he just said. "Sorry, that was quite offensive, was it? I hear the twenty-first century is quite sensitive about those matters."

"It's fine. Go on." Miles turned around, a little intrigued.

"So I was thinking that since you were from there, perhaps there is a chance that you might know who the girl was. One in a million, perhaps, but I figured it was a good time to ask as any. There must be a reason why I met her."

"What was her name?" Miles approached him, though he could tell there is a sense of uneasiness in his steps. Does he know something, after all? "Do you remember?"

"Er," Rinnosuke thought about it deeply, trying to recall the name of the girl. It was a western name, he's sure of it, but what? "Sorry, I don't know." he held his chin, "There was a computer somewhere there though. I think I even tried to operate it."

"Computer?"

"Yes. I remember now. It was small and very accessible for such a powerful machine. You can even transport it around by folding it in half."

Miles waited, waiting for him to say more, but Rinnosuke couldn't dig deeper in his flashback. "I can't think of anymore. My apologies." He rubbed his forehead. For some reason it ached when he tries to think about it.

"Hey, Rinnosuke," Miles said, looking right at him. "Tell me, are you nicknamed 'Kourin' by any chance?"

"Kourin? Well yes, did you hear it from Marisa? She's the only one who ever uses it, though."

"I see." Miles stuck his hands to the pockets and turned around, aiming for the door. "As for your question, sorry, I don't know who that is. Too many people with descriptions like that."

"Hmm, I guess I have to ask Yukari after all, since she's the one who brought me there in the first place."

Miles said nothing as he left the shop. When Rinnosuke realized he had forgotten to give him a proper farewell he was already too late. The visitor from the outside world already disappeared into the Forest of Magic, now made up of countless lifeless trees, covered in snow. There wasn't really anything magical about it anymore, as most of its denizens shared a similar fate.


	47. Day 6 - IV

**Day 6 - IV**

* * *

The night wore on, as did the blizzard. Miko sat alone in the room Takeyoshi provided her with, intently studying a rather curious book. She had not been this intrigued—and so far, impressed—with anything since her awakening. No, maybe not even her past life had anything as interesting as this. Calling it a 'worth' coming to Gensokyo would be a severe understatement. She struck upon a gold mine when she least expected it to.

"Prince," a voice said, entering the room, "as requested, all of your belongings, as well as anything worth of practical value, are all relocated to the storage room. Tojiko went through the extra trouble of going back to the Hall to find anything we might have missed, but I think we are set."

To Miko, this is what she hears when Futo speaks. She was as normal, and at times, mundane, as a piece of silverware. For some reason other people always hear her speak with an archiac accent. Maybe it had something to do with the special earmuffs she wore. She could look into it later.

"Hm," Miko said, not looking up from her book. The dim candle swayed back and forth from the mild wind, as if it was indecisive on which direction to blow in. She'd have to tell Takeyoshi to fix that small leak by the door tomorrow.

The ritual Reimu performed today was a success...or that is what she claims to be anyway. From Miko's point of view, it was only half complete. The shrine maiden was able to ready the preparations without a hitch, drawing ying-yang circles around the village and chanting so much different prayers that she was sure some of them were from different religions, but the actual barrier is yet to be set up. She said it take some time for the barrier to form, at least the very least tomorrow afternoon.

Takeyoshi was troubled by this fact. This was a mad gamble, and becaues he doesn't want to lose his stakes, he pleaded her over and over again, even went as far as almost bowing to make her summon the thing faster. But Reimu only shrugged at his insistence, saying that there is nothing she could do. Besides, one simply does not rush something like this. A slight mishap could bring major catastrophes. All they could do is to wait for the barrier to activate itself.

Miko isn't particularly worried. She's playing the long game. The naive Takeyoshi, however, who wanted to have zero casualties. He was determined on getting the whole thing with the fake barrier over with as soon as possible, and he had good reason. Symptoms of the snow were already showing. Quite a few people coughed out blood today, as Miko had the liberty to witness, and some even collapsed right onto the streets. An admirable cause, she admitted, but in order to fulfill one's ultimate goal you must learn to the see the bigger picture, and after you do, other creative ways of looking at it. It can't be helped if people are dying. That is something Takeyoshi must learn, if he wishes to become a capable leader to guide the humans. The name of the Dragon Prince wouldn't do alone, even if people believed in the eventual reveal Youki spoke of. Personally, she found the story with the dragon questionable, but hey, why spoil the fun when you can keep your mouth shut and watch the world burn?

Now that she had pledged a formal allegiance to Takeyoshi, Miko would be needed by his presence. Her role, Youki had told her, would be his advisor, considering she had much experience on handling politics and diplomacy in Japan, as well as being unexpectantly resourceful. Both of her loyal companions, Futo, and Tojiko, would be under the boy's command as well. They would help stabilize the internal workings of the village.

But why would they need someone of their skills in a place like Gensokyo? They are not seriously trying to topple the class structure in Gensokyo, are they? It wasn't really her place to question such things, at least not this early on. Everything will be revealed to her one way more another, in due time.

Only Seiga, her former master, is out of the picture. Miko told her she is free to do as she pleases. Not she had a proper leash on her anyway. No one can fully control the wicked hermit.

She was a precaution in case something went wrong with Reimu's makeshift barrier.

"Prince," Miko, engrossed with picturing her future steps, did not notice Futo until her face is in front of hers. "What is it that you are reading? I thought you said the books in this era don't interest you."

She smiled. "This one's different. Look, you might recognize the title. If not, then the author." Miko held up the book. The cover was in a dirty, dark blue, and there were obvious smudges. This book had seen better times.

"This type of cover..." Futo squinted her eyes, trying to see clearly by the shade of the candle. "Is this a book from China? _Another Way_ , it is called. I've never heard of this."

"Have you heard of a Zhao Bai, then?"

Futo raised her eyes. "Zhao Bai? Is that the name of a someone of the Han? Zhao Bai, Zhao Bai..." She held her chin in wonder, staring at the ceiling.

"Zhao Bai the Illuminator."

"Ah!" Futo exclaimed. "Him? The legendary Taoist sage?"

"He is the author," Miko explained, excited. It was nice to feel like this again. "This is a book he wrote, a compilation of every spells and technique he knew. Look," she pointed at a page written in ancient Chinese, "this is the Golden Star Net, one of his famous moves on banishing yaoguai."

Despiting sharing the same meaning, the yaoguai of China are not the same with the youkai. For starters, their ferociousness could make even the most battle-hardened warrior soil his trousers. They make the wild youkai of Gensokyo look like harmless little critters, the objection of affection for every little human being. It would take someone who is physically unable fool around in order to subdue a yaoguai, and the reason for Zhao Bai's growing fame during his prime was precisely that. His sage name, meaning 'Reflecting White', was crowned by the Emperor of China himself.

Though she was not able to meet Zhao Bai in person during her time in Japan, the winds eventually carried the tales of his virtuous exploits to Miko, and she held him high in her regards ever since. But unlike the many famously skilled practitioners of Taoism, Zhao Bai did not choose to become a hermit, in hopes of celestial transcendence. He lived out the rest of his life as a mere human, believing in the fundamentals of mortality and the fleetness of life. Perhaps he was too anti-social, perhaps he did nothing to stop the death of the Emperor when summoned, but when he died, so did his legends. People's fondness of him eventually evaporated like the yaoguai who were exposed to the brilliance of his light.

The tale of Zhao Bai's life was a melancholic one. Despite his willingness to serve, he never really secured a spot among the immortal heroes of China in the people's hearts. Because of that, it was hard to believe he wrote a book for the next generation. In fact, she wasn't aware that the book existed all. It is said Zhao Bai took no disciples, and his family knew nothing of his technique. Everyone thought his moves were lost in time, but apparently today Miko found a book with containing all of his secrets, with precisely worded instructions on how to perform them. For a student of the Taoist arts like Miko, this is like a dream come true, and she had been dreaming for over a thousand years.

Youki handed it to her earlier during the day. He said it came upon him during his travels in the outside world and spoke no further of it. The book itself must have been a bribe, just like with Reimu. A fee to keep Miko's allegiance and services in check. Unknown to him, this is a bait she is going to bite willingly. Youki didn't seem to understand, as he is but a simple swordsman. Could he even read ancient Chinese? He must have thought it was a rare spell tome of sorts, and considered it a fancy souvenir. How wrong he was. Well, he was right about it being rare, but the secrets the book provides is not to be underestimated. If fallen into the right hands, _Another_ Way could easily bring anyone to power, regardless of their talent with the divine arts. Zhao Bai used his powers to aid the weak and exorcise the evil, but who says they can't be used for the other way?

"Futo," she said, closing the book. "I have an idea. Yukari Yakumo is no doubt going to be a nuisance for our plans." With 'our', Miko meant her new found alliance with the human village, but she has not considered on making a move of her own yet. "I'm going to do something about her, just before the barrier starts tomorrow."

"But Prince, just how are you going to do that? She is an opponent even the Hakurei shrine maiden must keep an eye on."

Toyosatomimi no Miko smirked. She held _Another Way_ up. "I'm going to see if the old man's techniques still work after some thousand years. A little test, if you will."


	48. Day 7 - I

Long, long ago, a man once said,

"When one dies, they become a butterfly, and can fly as far as they may."

The voice of such man echoed those words with a ghastly whisper, drifting through my mind like the nearby cherry petals until I woke up feeling covered in sweat. It felt real. I was there, even though I'm not. All of my five senses were fully present and functional.

I understand now. Those dreams, they were like reading my stories. They told me everything I needed to know, and while most of the memories were hazy, I remembered enough. It was no lie that I used to live in Gensokyo, and that I used to speak Japanese. No, I _was_ Japanese. The reason I could not recall any time of myself being here was that it did not happen in this life. Miles Franson was the reincarnation of the man in the dream, and as a butterfly he flew back to the place where he had died.

But why have I returned? There is no reason why this life has to continue the destiny of a previous one. That is something the one known as Yukari Yakumo knows, and because of that, I must find her. According to Alice, she resides in the Hakugyokurou, along with the cherry blossom in my dreams.

I must see both of them, today.

The snow outside cannot be compared to the first ones that had fallen. The margin of the intensity was simply too great. It's a mess out there, devoid of any signs of life. From the looks of it, anything that stays outside long enough dies. The dead trees and the piles of wild critter outside the house proved that. The only exception, I've found, was myself.

Alice was right. I do have something to do with the snow. That is the only explanation, and is precisely why I must put a stop to it, before it gets out of control. Gensokyo will not die by my hands. I don't know how. The answers must lie somewhere there, beyond the gate to the Netherworld.

Alice had helped me tremendously so far, and her assistance will prove invaluable if she were to come. I sought for her downstairs, and the puppet master was easily found in the kitchen, sitting by her seat with a cup of steaming tea as usual. No, something was wrong.

"Alice?" I approached her, unable to see the face buried in her arms. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

There was no response. Did the snow already got her? In an attempt to prove my fears wrong, I shook Alice by the shoulders. To my relief she was still breathing. A small group of her dolls, Shanghai and Hourai at the front, appeared in front of me, pleading me to do something with those sad little eyes of theirs. Nearby, dozens of their weaker sisters lay on the floor, their invisible connections to their master likely severed the moment she fell unconscious.

I nod to the dolls and went up the stairs to grab my blanket. I let it cover her when I got down. Hourai carried the coat Alice lent me, and Shanghai fetched a dark-colored scarf. I put them on with a smile. The dolls then watched me exit the house, some of them waving goodbye.

Perhaps it would be the last. Now, how to get to Hakugyoukurou again?


	49. Day 7 - II

**"I will be praying to die in Spring,**  
 **Under the flowering Cherry trees,**  
 **During the full moon of the second month."**

 **\- Saigyo Hoshi**

* * *

Yukari peered through a small gap. It was the same ghostly pale sight, but occasionally there would be something motionless lying around. A green fairy dropped as the scenery in the gap moved around, showing an aerial view of an area in Gensokyo. Having seen nothing but her fears, Yukari clicked her tongue in annoyance and closed the portal. It was worrying that the number of victims fallen to the snow are starting to become more than just occasional.

Just how could something like this happen right under her nose? With this type of incident, not even Reimu could resolve it with brute force. Well, she could, but there would be a considerate price on stopping the tree. Yukari considered on destroying it herself—it wouldn't be too hard for someone like her—but it's very likely that she will die with it in the process. Unlike Yuyuko, she is not able to communicate with it, but she could sense at least a primitive intellect, focusing on survival. Will her sacrifice be enough? What if more similar incidents happen in the future? Without her guidance, Reimu would...

"Mistress."

A nine tailed fox spoke, hands conjoined in her long sleeves.

"Ran."

"I have sent some of the crow familiars to the tree, but it is as you say, not a single one lived before flying close to it. Its aura of death is too potent."

"I see." she turned around, facing the vast pink sky from atop the stairs. "It's funny, isn't it? This would not have happened if I did not allow myself to succumb to my urges. I have grown weak, Ran. "

"This isn't your fault."

"Nothing isn't my fault when I'm the overseer of this wretched place." Yukari sighed. "I've gotten old, haven't I?"

"Mistress, there is no use on lamenting your mistakes. The logical step we should take right now is to find out what caused the Saigyou Akayashi bloom, then from there, find a solution to stop it. We should also give princess Yuyuko some time to change her mind and speak to the tree, ask what it wants."

But that wouldn't be possible. The tree's deadly snow is multiplying its potency by the minute, and Yuyuko is reluctant to cooperate. Knowing her, she is not going to let her second chance to waste. Besides, Yukari already has an inkling of a clue of what the cause might be.

"No, that wouldn't be necessary. I know a faster way. Make sure to contact the backup if something were to happen to Reimu."

"Yukari," her loyal shikigami grew pale. "You are not going to—"

"I have to say, Ran, it was fun being the last youkai of the boundaries." Yukari opened up a portal large enough to fit her size. "Take care of Chen during my absence, and do a better job of raising her than I did with you, would you?"

The gap swallowed her whole, instantly transporting her to the spacious area deep underneath the tree, where the body of Yuyuko lies.


	50. Day 7 - III

I regret on not keeping my body in shape, but that's saying I've had at one point.

Anyway, this body can go to hell. So much for the undying part. Through the hard way I found out fatigue is not something it can deal with, and so with trembling legs I fell. Coldness. The skin on my face screamed from the raw, hardened snow, and I felt more piling up my body.

No. Not yet. I can't stop here. I have to reach that place. Rinnosuke said it was up in the clouds, so I'll find a way to get in there, somehow.

But it's no use. My arms were frozen stiff, and my legs felt prosthetically lifeless. Am I going to be buried here? My body wants to lose conscious from the numbing, protruding pain, but the coldness of it kept me awake. This is torture.

* * *

Who knows how long I've laid there, but eventually I heard the snow nearby getting crunched. Footsteps. Was someone there? Whoever they were, the lack of further sounds indicated that they chose to do nothing over my presence, if they could still see a part of me from getting buried.

Without warning they lifted me up and flipped me over. My head sunk into the small pit where my face made contact, and my eyes struggled tp stay open. A face loomed over me. It was a girl, with short, spiky hair in the shape of horns. Or was it cat ears? She wore a pair of purple earmuffs, and I have to say, they must be nice. I want one...

"How pathetic. What are you doing here, human?" the girl finally said after we stared at each other. She had a wooden stick with an arrowhead tip by her hand. "You don't look like you are from the village."

"Do you know," my eyes, more interested in the clouds, shifted away from her and gazed at the gray sky, "where the Hakugyoukurou is?"

The funny haired girl said nothing. She narrowed her eyes, her wooden stick pointed at her lips, studying me. Eventually, she chuckled, as if she realized something ironic.

"Why yes, I do. I am heading over there now. Do you want to join me?"

She extended a hand to me. I managed to lift one of my own and grasp it without hesitation. Finally, some progress on this pointless quest. As soon as our hands met, however, a surge of warm, sweet vitality rushed through me, and seconds later I found myself standing, feeling invigorated.

The girl wore a smile that is more suitable when dealing with business as I inspected myself, flipping my hand over and over again. Was it me? No, she did something, didn't she?

Oh well, it doesn't matter now. The girl, without a word, turned around, her purple cloak fluttering wildly in the wind.

"It's this way."

It goes without saying that I followed. I do hope that she has a plan to get us up there, but god damn, I've been taking the wrong way this whole time.


	51. Day 7 - IV

"We have arrived."

Or so did the funny-haired girl say. I could never tell if those were real. While she idly waited for my response, I noticed that there was a look in her eyes that suggested more than her casual demeanor.

"Are you really human?" she asked, rather bluntly.

"Yes," I replied after taking a brief moment to let that question to sink in.

Well, am I? Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm an undead, a ghost of the man who once lived here. That could explain why I'm almost immortal.

The girl did not react expressively with my dull reply whatsoever. She gestured upwards with her wooden stick thing, indicating a large patch of cloud above us. I couldn't really tell what color it was from the snow getting in my eyes, but I'm sure that was it. The pathway to Hakugyoukurou. It has to be there, the only and one part of the Netherworld that was connected to Gensokyo. From the moment I set my eyes on it, tidal waves of intense longing for certain days of the old washed violently over me, drowning me in its nostalgic taste of bittersweet sadness. Memories of me dying in my last moments, the countless poems I composed the night before, and the young, cherry-haired girl who I felt great grief on having to leave behind, the increased intensity of these episodic flashes only served to reinforce my determination.

I clutched my fists. Only one question remained. How will we ever get up there?

"The answer is this." Out of nowhere, the girl took out a tattered book from under her cape. It sure had seen better times, yet for some reason, it felt strangely familiar. Have I read it somewhere before? The memories of the dead man did not suggest anything about that old book. She quickly flipped to a page and started draw to something in the snow with her stick. It was a small summoning circle of some kind, filled with ancient Chinese characters by the outer rim. When she was finished, the girl chanted something under her breath and the circle began to glow faintly with yellow.

"Stand in there."

I obeyed, and immediately I felt something wrong. My body...it's lighter?

"Hmph. Who knew that he was capable of gravity reversal." the girl said without any context whatsoever, but she did wear a satisfied face, as if pleased with the results. She then took off to the sky—my suspicions were correct, she is no human all right, not an ordinary one at least—and I was forced to follow. No, followed wasn't the right word, as that would suggest I had control over my action. I fell upwards, as if the sky became _down_ for me, and nature simply took over without a second thought. Everything inside that circle was subjected to its magic, and the thick snow joined me in my freefalling upwards, alongside chunks of the earth I was standing on.

What a life.

It felt forever, but when we finally arrived, the falling sensation stopped, and I found myself bound to my feet and the law of physics. All is well with sanity except that we were standing right on top of a wooden pillar that was somehow standing right on top of the pink cloud. Ahead was a sight that got the hairs on my body standing. An enormous weathered gate stood tall, as grand as it is imposing. The girl did not have to tell me. I already knew.

"Now, how do you open it?" to my surprise she was the one to ask.

I gave her a look. She shrugged.

"You should know."

Do I? Perhaps I should, since I used to live here in the Netherworld. But I don't know how. Memories that did not belong to Miles Franson flooded my mind, but not one of them gave specific instructions as to how to secure the door. I don't suppose it's Open Sesame, is it?

"I don't know if I could," I pointed at the gate, "but could you bring me closer?"

She complied by drawing another one of the circles on the wooden pillar we were standing on. It started to glow. When I stepped into it, the circle began to move slowly towards the gate and supported my body weight in the thin air. Another volley of strange yet deeply familiar memories once again was shot through me as I moved closer to my destination, but when I searched among them, there was never a time of my former self performing any kind of methodical ritual to unlock the gate. They always showed it opening for me by itself.

Which makes sense, if you narrow it down to one possibility.

I placed my hand on the Border of Life and Death. Its texture felt no different than regular wood, yet there was something mystical about it. As I expected, it began to rumble, and the gigantic gates slowly opened inwards.

I heard the girl scoff in approval. There were no memories of a secret way to open the gate because there wasn't any. It simply obeyed to my will every time I came here, as if it recognizes me.

Well, this is it. Beyond it is my destiny. Do you still see me as the simple human that time when I stumbled upon your afternoon tea that time, Remilia Scarlet? If only you could see me now. Will you be satisfied if you robbed me of my fate as an enslaved servant?

My heart pounded with anticipation as the gates tremored, despite it progressing at a snail's pace. I am here for the Tree of Saigyo Hoshi, and this was my chance make it happen. It was my biggest source of motivation to continue living, and to be honest, I don't really care if I succeed in stopping the madness that was consuming Gensokyo. All it mattered was to see it up close, in its true glory. Nothing will stop me.

"But alas, Mr. Human, there appears to be another impudent obstacle stainding in your way."

She did not have to tell me that. When the gate opened enough just to have a glimpse of the inside, the first thing I saw was a woman's face staring back at me in horror. She had furry ears sprouting from her head and possessed up to nine golden tails on her back. A youkai. Must be one of the famous nine-tailed ones.

"You," she directed her voice at me, "what are you doing here? How did you get in?"

I no longer felt the obligation to be polite, nor do I have the time for such pettiness. Why doesn't anyone get it? Please, get out of the way. It was so close, just beyond these stairs.

"Let me handle her, then. Go on and realize your destiny, writer of poems." Pointy-Hair said behind me. To be honest, despite being grateful for her assistance, I do not know what her agendas are, helping me out of nowhere, and it was pretty suspicious the way she knew so much about me. Was she an acquaintance of Alice's?

"Yeah," I muttered, her circle moving me to the solid ground that took place in the Netherworld. Doesn't matter, it was her offer. "Have fun."

So I made the first move. Before the fox could do anything, I dashed for the stairs. She might have caught me if whatever sounded like bolts of lightning did not follow in the wake of my steps, cutting her advance.


	52. Day 7 - V

Miko had blackened the section of stairs between Ran and the scurrying human. It wasn't meant to hit. It was a warning. She narrowed her eyes.

"Toyosatomimi no Miko," Ran said, turning around. "State your purpose here."

The hermit, she saw, was not looking up. She idly smacked her shaku on a palm, looking free of the tension her interrogator was having.

"Say," she began, "where is your master? I thought you were the type to suck up to her all day."

Ran slowly reached behind her robe, fingering a stack of enchanted talisman. She briefly considered using a silencing charm, but dismissed the idea. No, she is still inexperienced for thinking that would work. Miko is relatively a newcomer in Gensokyo, and Ran, as Yukari's field agent, had yet measured her overall capabilities. The only thing she knew about her was that she is a proud follower of Taoism, and even that is not saying much. There is no telling what she could do.

"She does not have the time for someone like you," Ran said, backing until she met the bottom of the stairs behind her. Curiously, Miko did not take a single step into the Netherworld. She merely stayed afloat in front of the border. Just what on earth is she planning? There is that suspicious human as well. She didn't sense anything from him, not a single trace of magic or potential of any sorts, yet there was something off…What could it be? No, it doesn't matter, he's less of a priority than Miko right now. Besides, Youmu will deal with him soon enough, and she is looking rather determined on watch duty today.

At last Miko looked up and stopped playing around. She sheathed her shaku into a belt by the side of her hip.

"Oh, is that so? What a pity." She turned away from the Netherworld and stared at the sky that belonged to Gensokyo. "I was hoping to see her today, you know, have a little chat about the realm and other things."

"Are you going to leave?"

There was no reply. Ran, in a moment of clarity, turned around and closed her eyes, facing the stairs of Hakugyoukurou. She is not going to leave.

This is a declaration to a fight.

A subtle rustle. Detecting sudden movements, Ran was quick to turn back around, throwing the first talisman she plucked from her robe. It manifested into a bullet of light and collided with Miko's energy projectile. A brilliant explosion occurred, and Ran, while unfazed, frowned.

"Oh my," Miko said, holstering her shaku. "What a nice reaction time. You didn't totally fail your master, after all."

"I will say it again, hermit. State your intent, and answer me why did the Border of Life and Death open for you."

"Oh please, don't think I'm the bad guy here." Miko smiled. "This is merely my way of showing grace. It must be stressful managing Gensokyo day by day, so I thought you guys might appreciate a break. The famous Guo Jia did die of overworking himself, after all."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"The kid said it's fine too, so I've got my permission, if that's what you're worried about."

"…Kid?"

"You know, that handsome guy who your mistress used to torment, according to him."

 _She must be talking about the son of the village chief,_ Ran thought. _But what does he have to do with anything?_

"So here I am, doing some charity for ol' Youki and the Dra—Whoops, that was close. You weren't supposed to know about that. Anyway, say hi to your mistress for me."

While Miko talked nonsense, Ran analyzed their surroundings. A narrow pathway, with clusters of cherry blossoms on the sides. Perfect for a direction confrontation. She also formulated a retreat plan, just in case. Even if Miko reaches Yukari, whatever agenda she might have, the Saigyou Ayakashi will kill her before anything else. The potency of that tree up close is terrifying, to say the least.

"…You will not get past me."

"Is that all you have to say to my little speech? I even went through the trouble of dropping a hint for you. Oh well, guess I expected too much for a shikigami. I don't intend to get past you anyway, but it's probably a little too late to back down now."

They studied one another, waiting for the other to make the first move. Winds blew from the Netherworld into Gensokyo, sending several petals flying and ruffling their hair. Ran, in a tense position, readied her flinging hand into her robe, while Miko folded her fingers around the hilt of her shaku, lightly caressing it and wore a knowing smirk.

The Border of Life and Death was the signal they were waiting for. With no further entries detected, it rumbled, slightly tremoring the ground beneath Ran and shook the cloud below Miko. It was closing.

Miko was faster this time. She reached for her shaku and fired three consecutive shots. Ran, ears twitching, quickly countered with her talismans, throwing them into a series of small explosions. When the scenery was clear, Miko was nowhere in sight.

 _Blast_. It was the trick Yukari spoke of. By shrouding herself with her cape, Miko is able to disappear into a pocket dimension of her own. Ran eyed her surroundings carefully, ears perked. She is not able to travel long distances, so she should still be somewhere nearby. Where would she appear?

She found her answer soon enough through the hard way. The obvious back.

An unusually strong kick struck from behind, propelling her between the small space between the closing gate. In an attempt to save herself from getting squished she rotated her body and fit through the gap just before falling out of the Netherworld. When she recovered midair, the Border closed itself with a thud.

Ran allowed herself to murmur a few words that would never be spoken around Yukari. That accursed hermit. She was toying with her. The way she mimicked her shaku as a gun clearly showed that she was having fun. What kind of Taoist devotee even does that?

At least she is not completely defeated. Searching through the arsenal of spell charms and tags she carried, Ran found something that is one of a kind. A special talisman, its color was of the darkest kind, absorbing any light that comes in contact, with the faint outline of an eye in the middle. This was one of Yukari's experiments, a byproduct of one of the most efficient resources in the world: her boredom. By inserting a small and delicate gap into an empty charm, she was able to confine it inside, allowing anyone to call upon its powers provided it was handled with utmost caution. Although it was one of the simpler kind of her gaps—it could only serve as a gateway between two objects—this was one of the first attempts on weaponizing the natural powers of the youkai. This portal gap was exclusively reserved for Ran, should the need for it arise. And it did, because now she will need it to get back inside.

She placed it on the gate. The paper charm dissolved itself, swallowed by the dark portal contained within. When it was ready, with the eerie, violet eyes staring back at her inside of the never-ending void, Ran took a deep breath and stepped in, clutching a bundle amulets between fingers. If she knew something like this would happen she would have brought more than one today.

When she entered, however, Miko was nowhere in sight. Could she have used that trick again? She wouldn't make the same mistake the second time. First she would need to draw a circle of protection around herself, then…

"Heh."

A malicious chuckle was heard from behind and Ran threw three amulets with at where it was with frightful precision. Miko was leaning by the gate, right next to the gap she came in. With a casual twist of her torso she avoided the blades of light and disappeared into Ran's gap.

"You are not going anywhere!" Ran went after her and reached in, but the only thing she caught was an excruciating pain.

A searing sensation blinded her senses, a feeling akin to wild electricity running rampant. Flowing from her right hand that was in the gap, Ran couldn't even scream from the sudden pain. It controlled her, numbing every aspect of her body and the only thing she could do is to wordlessly beg for it to stop.

Was this the feeling of being exorcised? Yukari vaguely spoke of it with pained expressions long ago, but this is the real deal. This was all rigged from the start, wasn't it?

When she regained conscious she found herself lying by the front of the gate. By then Miko was long gone, and the portal was either expired or was destroyed. Since it was trapped within the confines of a powerful amulet for a long period of time, the gap grew weaker and weaker until it was reduced to a miserable, but manageable, state of form.

Ran, feeling breathless, lay there and stared at the pink sky of the Netherworld. The steady stream of souls coming in from Gensokyo from before was replaced by a rushing torrent, practically getting vacuumed to the small cliff at the backyard of Hakugyoukurou. It seems the tree is getting restless.

She sat up, facing the gate. That…That agony, that was the word Yukari used, that agony from before, she could still faintly feel it pulsating in her body. It was as if her essence was getting purified to the bone, a burning radiance that threatened to consume her until she was a pile of smoking ash. Since when could she do that? Was Miko secretly a shrine maiden of some sort? All she remembered was that when she placed her right hand into the portal…

Her right hand.

"What…is this?"

A crude, alien thing of grayish white stared back at her. Stupefied, she gawked at it for minutes before coming to her senses and trying to heal it. No use. Then she waited, hoping for her natural regeneration to kick in. Who knows how long had went by, but her hand remained sterile, the gentle wind blowing through the long and thin joints. Now desperate, Ran applied every high level incantations of healing and mending she knew.

It seemed to be mocking her. She didn't hear it, but she could tell it was laughing at her at the mere notion of challenging Miko. _This,_ it said, _is the price for your insolence._

At least the hand is still usable. She could move her fingers with the same precision as she could with her former hand, but the flesh…they were gone. Long gone. All that's left was a symbol of her defeat, destined to remind her of it forever. Before she knew it, she sat there alone with the naked hand until the Second Spring Snow Incident was over.


	53. Day 7 - VI

I felt like I was in heaven. Whatever emotions I had before, I was now at a profound peace, intense and blissful. The gentle snow, the gorgeously pink sky, and the lovely cherry trees nearby all shared a similar language of perfection and unity. Everything was in harmony. This. This is where I belong. Why haven't I come sooner?

The cherry trees spoke to me, their ghastly voices welcoming me home. _Welcome back,_ they whispered. _It's been a long time._ Has it? It only felt as if it was yesterday that Saigyo Hoshi died underneath his tree. Out of the myriads of his dying memories, one significant event that stood out was a promise that he made during his final hours, lying against his beloved tree.

"Do not mourn for me, oh cherished one, for I will return by your side one day. No matter how much the world has changed, you and I will be reunited. Whether our meeting will be the next life, or the one beyond this era, know that for as long as you are still rooted here, I will find a way back to your sweet embrace."

Well, today Mile Franson is here to fulfill that vow, after more than a thousand years. I may be a different person, but the poet's burning passion and desire never flickered, never threatened to die out even for one moment. I'm sure this feeling persisted through my previous lives, who pushed themselves in order to make this meeting today happen. Though they had no idea what the ache of missing a certain loved one might be, their actions had guided me ever since I was born.

* * *

I didn't mind the stairs. In fact, it did not appear to be long at all. I could already see the top where it ends.

And then, I saw a young girl with short, silver hair stepping into view. She wore a green attire and her hands were ready against a sheathed sword. I climbed closer until it was only about ten steps between us, then I stopped, our gazes studied one another.

"Hello there," A lone petal drifted down smoothly and landed on my hand. "A beautiful day, isn't it?"

The girl solemnly drew her sword with an elegant motion. The reflective surface of its blade and the falling petals casted inside was inspiring. I could make a poem about it. No, I could make a poem for just about anything in this magnificent world. This is my moment. I have never felt so alive in my life.

"None may pass at this time." she said, her eyes indulged with determination. "Turn back, before the weight of the Netherworld crushes your mortal essence."

She brandished her sword in an arc with grace. Impressed, I nodded slightly in approval, then shook my head and smiled as I began moving up, continuing my pilgrimage to Hakugyoukurou.

The blade's tip was thrust inches from my face. That appears to be her final warning. How thoughtful. I pushed the blade aside and walked past the girl. I was only a footstep away from reaching the summit when she whirled around with her sword without warning and sliced my body in half, my torso plummeting down the stairs and my lower half crumbling to the knees. The girl, with a mournful—but still resolute—expression, wiped the blood off the blade with a forceful swing in the air and sheathed it flawlessly.

She became nothing but a figure as I fell, and then my mouth moved.

"Scatter."

I spoke, but it wasn't really me that did the speaking. The voice belonged to a man who no longer existed in this world. A final gift.

A twister of countless petals formed on where I once stood, each leaf gathered from every single cherry blossom in the Netherworld. The swirling cluster surrounded my organ-spilling lower half and carried it to me, now lying on a large square section that served to divide the stairs. Once the petals brought the two parts of myself together, they began to orbit the severed section that split my body, mending and stitching my fatal wound with their soothing touch and pleasant odor. They dispersed into the wind once I was connected again.

The girl watched me all the way from the top. I could not make out her expression from down here, but even I could tell she was awestruck, as was I. This process was new. I was not expecting such an ability of this degree outside of my healing factor. Saigyou Hoshi must have commanded the trees here to lend me a hand. I got back on my feet and tested a couple steps before fully committed on climbing back up.


	54. Day 7 - VII

I could see her now. Her eyes were in disbelief, but she quickly steeled herself and unsheathed a second, shorter sword—a wakizashi—hung behind her waist. She dual wielded this time, after witnessing firsthand that I am no mere mortal.

When I got back up again she swung with her longer sword. I hastily stepped back. This girl, she is clearly using the high ground to her advantage. Normally that spells out trouble, but it makes no difference for me, does it? I am not here to fight.

Gaining some confidence in the thought, I ignored my tactical disadvantage and walked right into a well-placed thrust of her sword, followed by a quick cut in the artery on my arm with the wakizashi. This girl wasn't playing around. I recoiled from the assault and lost my footing, proceeding to fall back down to the square section again. When my wounds were healed, I gathered myself and went back up.

The process repeated over and over. Every time when I tried to advance, I was cut down. Then I healed and got back up as if nothing's ever happened. But this is getting nowhere. I wasn't able to move one step further from the first time. It's starting to get irritating, I have to admit, but I am confident that the long game favors me. She will succumb to the fatigue from my countless approaches, and slowly her strikes will have less strength in them. My body could shrug off the small wounds, allowing me to reach the top before she has the chance to follow through. It was a plan that only works for me.

But, to my annoyance, she showed no signs of getting tired at all. In fact, she seemed to be more determined than ever. Each time I got back up I was killed in a consecutively more skillful display of swordsmanship (swordswomanship?), as if I was a practice dummy. Or maybe she's trying to show off, saying "you can't get through this." Who knows. The only thing I truly understand is that we are both stubborn as hell right now, which, quite frankly, did neither of us any favors.

I tried to skirt around her this time, hoping to evade at least one hit on time and find an opening to run through. No such luck. She had a clean cut by my neck and kicked my decapitated body back down. After making sure my head was set back at the right angle, I sat down and brainstormed for ways to get past her. Obviously I couldn't fight back, no matter how many times I heal. This encounter only added "any type of martial arts training, seriously" to my list of things I should have done in my childhood. Clearly, she is no stranger to combat.

She couldn't get rid of me, and I couldn't get past her. This is a stalemate that we've been trying to break through with no success. The girl tried using many different ways to kill me, or at least different ways that keep me from coming back. She tried dicing me to countless little pieces, she tried cutting me into different sections and had her ghost lackey carry them off in different directions. I came back each time, fully repaired and ready to tackle the stairs once again. Dying is something I do not plan to do until I reach there. If I can't fight, then there is only thing I could do to end this contest of will and ego.

I wasn't sure how long it took, but I finally managed to let scales tip in my favor. As I attempted on slipping past her for an untold amount of time, she kicked me in the gut and stabbed me in the head with her wakizashi. While she was preparing to draw her sword with the other hand to finish me off, an ingenious thought occurred to me. This girl is young, that's for sure. And because of the purity that hid beneath her innocent youth, it will be her downfall as a female and my triumph as the opposite sex. She might be hiding her true age as a youkai, but it was worth a try nevertheless.

To her surprise, she felt a hand groping on her non-existent chest, and with a silent, but intense blush she jolted back, her grip on her wakizashi slipping. I fell back down the stairs, having it still lodged in my skull.

Now I have something to work with.

* * *

Youmu could not make out what the intruder was doing down there with the Hakurouken. Frustrated, she tightened her grip on the Roukanken until pain numbed her hand. How could she have made a mistake like that? If her grandfather Youki was still here, surely he would have scolded her with his few but thundering words.

She exhaled and let herself to look up at the sky for a second. Souls of the deceased rushed through, flowing to the direction of the Saigyou Ayakashi. Her own ghost half twirled around her in small excitement. Today will finally be the day Lady Yuyuko realize her wish.

The man began to climb. He clutched onto the Hakurouken on one hand, his eyes on her. From the looks of it, he is no fighter. His footwork is awkward and his reflex is not fast enough. What can he do with the wakizashi? The Hakurouken is an ancestral heirloom of the Konpaku clan, given by Youki just before the day he mysteriously disappeared. Is it ever possible for someone like him to handle the Dispeller of Spirits?

It doesn't matter. The wakizashi belonged to her. She will reclaim it, and find a way to eliminate this intruder so that not only her honor will be restored, but her clan's as well.

When she was able to get a clear view on the ascending man, she frowned with distaste. He was gripping it by the blade, hand bleeding. At least pain does not seem to be anything of relevance to him. He stood unfazed even while having his body sliced. Because of that, she found herself a reason to respect him as a foe. He is worthy, even if he is not a warrior.

Slowly the intruder approaches. She unsheathed the Roukanken and bent her arms back so that its tip faced him. Just a little longer will the ritual be complete. Gensokyo will then be fully sapped of its spring, and the Saigyou Ayakashi will bloom, having nourished itself enough to restore back its former glory. Only then may Lady Yuyuko converse with it and find out what is buried underneath.

Despite her initial reluctance on agreeing with the plan, as the lives of her friends must be given up, Youmu blocked out her conscience and followed her duty. But it was difficult to maintain her unwavering will. It was different from the first time, as she then got to know the many people who lived in Gensokyo, and the wonderful memories she had made with them. She certainly preferred those over the years of only having to practice the sword with her grandfather. Still, it was her duty as the last of the Konpaku to serve the Saigyouji family without question. She desperately held back her emotions and concentrated on the threat in front of her. Until the plan succeeds, she will have to hold him back with everything she got.

 _Now then…what will you do, immortal one?_

When they were about ten steps away from each other, Youmu sensed the man's resolve. It was different from before. She could tell that he wishes this confrontation to be the last. Very well. Only one will remain. Slowly inching forward from her platform, she intended to use the height advantage to its full potential. She will open with a clean, but inaccurate cut, to distract him and seize back the Hakurouken, and then—

The man reacted slowly to her readiness to attack. He closed his eyes and held the Hakurouken in front of him, hand still clutched around the edges. His other hand went for the grip.

 _Throb._ Time seemed to have slow down. Youmu's sharp sense for danger, having honed for decades from her training in Netherworld, detected that he was about to do something dangerous. She doesn't know what, but it's not something to be taken lightly. Perhaps he did have a hidden trick up in his sleeve, after all.

But it is the Konpaku way to charge in with honor. Embracing her pride, she went in, intending to stop whatever he was planning. As she leaped from her elevation, the Rankouken was sheathed back in, and, like the man, Youmu closed her eyes. Focused more than ever, she felt the pleasant wind and the delicate touch of the cherry petals. A flash. She will become a flash of lightning, a striking gale, a raging force of nature that smites her foes to Hell.

 _Sword Technique: "Cherry Blossom Flash"._

Disappearing into the wind, she was replaced by a soft, yet violent trail of petals, seeking to cleave the intruder into two. The blade of the Roukanken emerged from a passing petal, piercing through it and went through his body with a precise slash. The succession of the blossoms ended as Youmu reappeared several steps behind him and sheathed back her sword with grace.

But the man was faster. He had uncovered the hand holding onto the blade of the Hakurouken, and Youmu saw what was reflected upon it when she went in for the kill. Words, hastily written in black ink and drenched by his blood. A haiku.

* * *

 **"The boundary line,**

 **that borders the dark and light.**

 **I shall discern it."**

* * *

He turned around, dropping the blade and holding onto the spot where he got killed.

"I have returned for an eternal rest with the sleeping beauty. Until then, I cannot die."

She dropped her sword and tried to block out the intruding imagery in her mind as the man splits in half and tumbled back down.


	55. Day 7 - VIII

Permanent marker. I picked it up while I was at Rinnosuke's the other day. He doesn't know, but he should accept my phone as payment, once he realized his stock was missing. Hopefully.

I brushed the dirt off my jacket, if it could be considered as one to begin with. It was stained with so much blood from my consecutive deaths that calling it a forgotten dishrag left in the basement would make it blush. So I took it off, having no need for it in a relatively warm place like this, and left it covered on the unconscious girl.

To my relief she was still breathing. It was thanks to that ghost thing beside her that she was still alive. Assuming that it's attached to her in some sort of way and isn't a separate entity, this girl would be a youkai, or at least not a human, which saved her from my poem. The fainting was unexpected, but I was glad nevertheless. It was only now that I realized how much of a selfish prick I was being before, almost walking down the path of complete destruction once again, just for the sake of some sightseeing. I mean, the sight _is_ something, all right, but that doesn't mean I could go back to the person I was before. This snow is my responsibility. Saigyou Hoshi honored his vow on returning here, so why can't Miles Franson, the messenger, deserve something extra for himself? It would be wishful thinking to save everyone and not have a single person dying, I admit, but stopping this madness as soon as possible is my priority.

The sky is already turning dark with an eerie shade of blue. It doesn't look too good, if you want my honest opnion. The only thing for me to do right now is to go up. So I took a deep breath, now that the overdue stalemate was settled, and went climbing for the countless time. Maybe I should have taken her sword, not as a weapon but as a canvas for my art. More guards are to be expected. But no, I had shamed the girl enough today. Defacing more of her properties wouldn't make me feel less guilty than I already am. It would be good for her if she never sees me again.

* * *

I've always hated stairs, but I never thought I would be this glad to finally overcome one. Ahead of me was a Japanese styled mansion, short walls surrounded the mountaintop it rested on and guarded by a small pavilion gate. I don't ever recall seeing a real mansion like this even back in Japan. It looked like a place where the head of the Yakuza lives, an old timer who enjoys to snip his bonsai trees after a morning tea and cherry blossom viewing.

There were no guards as I went in like a thief, but what's more surprising was that I knew the way around here. The memories of Saigyou Hoshi must be responsible. But I better move fast. His memories were already disappearing ever since his assistance over the cherry blossoms, and much of his fading past was forgotten. Only his death, and the day leading up to it, faithfully remained with me.

The tree, according this lone memory reverberating from a vague spot in the back of my head, was located at the back of this mansion and beyond the gardens. I resisted the temptation to sit and watch the cherry blossoms as I passed through the hallways. This is quite a beautiful place to live in. Where were its residents, anyway? There wasn't a single soul around, unless you count the ones in the sky.

Well, it doesn't matter. All the more convenient. Now, where is that doorway that led to the backyard garden again? I didn't bring my watch with me, but even I could tell I don't have much time.

* * *

Stepping out from a gap placed a good distance away from the tree, Yukari sighed and composed herself. It was no good. She couldn't even get close to the roots underneath without having her own soul siphoned as nutrient.

Yuyuko nearby, gazing at the tree with a blank expression. If only she could consult her...

 _What is it you see in that thing that could bring the salvation you've been looking for, Yuyuko?_

There was only one thing to do, if the tree wouldn't allow her to get inside. She will have to kill it directly.

"Don't do it Yukari," Yuyuko spoke, already sensing her intentions. "You out of all people should know that I am faster than your gaps."

She was right. Yuyuko could kill someone faster than an instant, if that was possible. The manipulation of death itself is a dreadful gift.

"And you too, out of all people, should know that I can't let you destroy Gensokyo," Yukari replied, trying to not look at the tree. It only brought bad memories, memories she thought she had forgotten. She never expected herself to come back here again. And who could blame her? After the initial incident, the Saigyou Ayakashi is thought to be a lost cause, a shadow of its former self.

"Life germinates from the remains of death, and death withers life down until it becomes brittle. It is a cycle that will never end. Gensokyo will be repopulated, soon enough."

"'Soon enough' means hundreds of years, if not thousands."

"And that is not very long to you, is it? Since when did you start to care about passage of time?"

"That's not the point," Yukari snapped, "you can't just leave everything to die just because of a selfish notion."

"Selfish?" She looked at her with eyes of wonder.

It _was_ very unusual for Yuyuko to end lives without a second thought. She seldom used her powers, considering it as a self-imposed taboo, and when she did, she mourned greatly for her victims. As the princess of the Netherworld, essentially the god of death in Gensokyo, she certainly sees a lot more point in life than others, having experienced it briefly on her own before becoming her current state. During the countless years of their friendship, Yukari could only recall a handful amount of times where she had demonstrated her power, and even then that was only used under the extremest of circumstances.

So why did she disregard everything she believed in and allowed a genocide to happen?

There is only one answer. The man who died in front of her. The only man Yuyuko Saigyouji ever truly loved.

"Yuyuko, are you hoping for it to resurrect your father?"

"My...father?" She cocked her head, as if the word was alien and it was heard for the first time. "Do I...have a father?"

Distant footsteps. She didn't know it, but that was all the answer she needs.

Yukari turned around and saw a lone human approaching from Hakugyoukurou. How did he get here? Ran and Youmu will have to explain this later, but for now, he is nothing but a sore sight. As he stepped closer, she recognized him as the human she brought in approximately a week ago.

* * *

The woman stood in front of me, her eyes violet, her locks golden. Sporting a lavender gown, she has a mature look of a beauty that pleasantly surprised both sexes when she fashionably arrived at a late night party. The one who started all this. Yukari Yakumo.

"Well now, who do we have here?" She flicked open a paper fan. "I certainly did not expect you. Whatever might have happened to Reimu? She would be the first one to kick down the gate at a time like this. I wonder-"

"Who...are you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh? I wasn't aware you had the right to interrupt me. Yes, I do realize that you may hold a grudge against me for dragging you into this world, but do keep in mind you are in no position to interrupt me right now, pig. You do not realize the situation you are in."

This woman. She is completely different. She is vain and considers the lives of a commoner as trash. She does not have a heart of a human.

And yet...why does she look so much like the girl known as Wendy Hearn?

"You were the one."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You were the one who whispered inside her of dreams."

And then she blinked in surprise.

"You were the one who had Rinnosuke Morichika to type up that email and sending it to me. He agreed to the deal only because he wishes to see the outside world for himself. Unknown to him, you purposefully planted a small gap in his head, wiping off the memories after the job was done." Is fate toying with me? Why does she share her victim's face? "You went through all that trouble just to bring me here and gap me in. But Wendy wouldn't allow it. So you waited. You waited for her eventual death from reading my writings. Only then I was vulnerable.

"She chose her death, because she wanted to you take you down with her. By requesting a specific horror story, she planned to send in whatever monstrosities I dreamed of and terrorize this place, sending a message that you should not tamper with the outside world and drag innocent people in."

"But she failed," Yukari adopted a sharp, confrontative tone. She dropped her vile attitude from earlier, likely a guise to root out the weak willed, and took a step towards me. "Whatever she read, it wasn't a horror story. All she did was to send a pair of clueless fictitious humans into the human village. When she realized her mistake, and by extension, _yours,_ it was too late. _You_ were the one who ruined her plan. _You_ were the one who let her sacrifice in vain.

"But you are something else, aren't you?" She stepped closer. Behind her, I saw, was my objective. "You survived through Remilia Scarlet's abduction, and although I did my part helping you and Reimu in the end, escaping that fight unscathed was a feat a normal human could only dream of. And then you managed to live through not one day, not two days, but a full week by yourself in Gensokyo." We met eye to eye. "Who are you, Miles Franson?"

I closed my eyes. There is nothing more to say to her. She is only here to validate my suspicions, and for that, she has my thanks. It was for her that I could meet with my beloved here today.

"I am the one who wishes to distinguish the line that separates the dark from light. Leave me, Yukari Yakumo, as my eternal slumber calls. I've waited for more than a thousand years and hundreds of different reincarnations for this."

She stood wide-eyed as I went past her.

"No, but that's...that's impossible. You couldn't possibly be..."

I knew I had failed both as a writer and as poet, because when I saw the Saigyou Ayakashi in her full bloom, I was at a lost for words. Her beauty was simply indescribable. Her sturdy, earthy brown trunk invited me in to lie on her lap. Her slender branches seduced me for a warm embrace. Finally, I have returned. The vow was honored, and I am here to die, the moment of atonement I've been waiting for. For my sins, I shall be purged.

 ** _Welcome home._**

A voice, initially hollow but as you let it course through your veins it becomes sweet like honey. From my heart, my soul, she spoke, and I fidgeted with every fiber of my being that is capable of hearing, anxious for her to say more, to savor more.

 ** _I've finally found you. Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited, waited for your promise._**

"It's been too long."

 ** _Indeed, it has. We have much to catch up to, but before that, I would like to ask a favor._**

I stopped. "Anything for you, my dear."

A lone petal was shed from her branch. Gliding slowly in the wind, it unraveled its course and floated to Yukari. The petal stabbed her once in the chest with its pointed edge before falling lifelessly to the ground.

 ** _Kill her._**


	56. Day 7 - IX

"Kill...her?" I repeated her words in the vain attempt of hoping I misheard. No such luck, as always.

 _ **Yes, dear, kill her. You could do it, even if she is a youkai.**_

"But...how?"

 _ **Over there,**_ a petal guided my line of sight to the person that's been standing next to her. A young woman, who looked in her healthy mid-twenties, stood there, caressing Saigyou Ayakashi's trunk with her hands. I lost sight of the petal when it flew into her wavy hair, as it had almost the same exact color. _**Yuyuko Saigyouji, your daughter. Convince her. She has the ability to kill anything.**_

My daughter. Yes, that makes sense now. She must have been that small and pretty girl in my dreams, echoing "papa" with tears in her eyes. And the other one who stood her, looking coolly defiant but evidently concerned, would be Yukari. That scene is what Saigyou Hoshi saw in front of his eyes, before he drew his final breath, lying at this exact same spot.

"Is this really necessary?" I asked softly.

 _ **She tried to kill me right before you came, and many attempts before that, when I was put to sleep. She must cease to live, for my sake.**_

I turned and looked at Yukari. She gazed back, an eyebrow slightly cocked, but otherwise no ill intentions behind her eyes.

Kill. Kill kill kill. All I've done in my life was to kill, and now, right before the end of my suffering, I have to kill again. No, even worse. I have to take advantage of my own daughter and let her take the blame for killing her friend, as well as the one who shares the same face as...

As her.

Fists clenched, I heard Remilia laughing at me somewhere in the back of my mind. Is this what fate truly had in store for me? Is this the karmic retribution, for all the deaths I've caused?

"Aya," I called her by the alias Hoshi once favored. "Will I end this accursed life of mine here, once it is done?"

 _ **Yes, of course. Your body may be immortal, having to bear the fortune goddess's curse, but there is only way for you to truly die.**_

"And that is to die, lying against your trunk, the same exact fashion the one before me did."

 _ **That is correct, dear.**_

I shot a look at Yuyuko, who stared back at me with a curious expression, having seen her father for possibly the first time. She is probably older than I am, but appears to be innocent and impressionable enough to hear my words and consider them almost right away.

All right.

The decision was made on the spot, as it was already there in my mind before I came. There is no turning back now, especially after I've reached this far. This is the finale of my trip to Gensokyo, and it will end just the way I wanted it to be.


	57. Day 7 - X

The man from earlier nodded at the tree. How strange he looked. A foreign Westerner is an uncommon sight to the Netherworld, if not for Gensokyo as well (save for Yukari, who is something of an oddity herself). He then looked to her direction and approached.

 ** _It has been more than a thousand years, Yuyuko,_** a voice, with a deep layer of mystical femininity hidden beneath its assertive but serene tone, that which reminds one of cherry blossoms in spring, spoke to her in her mind. **_But we are reunited, as a family._**

"Family…?" She repeated, her attention still at the man who looked right into her eyes. "Then, he is…"

 _ **Your father. Although not exactly the same in the flesh, it is him. Come to think of it, we all have changed, haven't we? Your father is a different man, you are now a spirit, and I have aged greatly, despite maintaining my beauty.**_

Father. That would explain the excited pounding of her ethereal heart. She was told to have parents, a father who was a poet and a mother who died of giving birth, but she would never dream of meeting even one of them again. **_He wishes to have a word with you,_** the tree said. **_Listen to what he has to say, little sapling._**

Her father stopped in front of her, and, as they saw face to face for the first time, his resolute expression broke into a hearty smile. "You must be Yuyuko," he said, patting her on the shoulder, "it is good to see you."

She doesn't know why, but she smiled as well. "And you as well...father."

"Yeah…It's been a long time, hasn't it? Not for me, not for my past selves, but the old man who has been patiently waiting for this reunion to occur."

 ** _It's been too long,_** Saigyou Ayakashi said, to the both of them.

"It has indeed, but let's save our sentimentality for later. Yuyuko, I have something—"

Disobedient on their first meeting, Yuyuko hugged him, tears glistening from the corners of her eyes. Her father, although surprised, accepted the hug and patted her on the back, awkwardly aware of her being slightly taller.

"Yukari," Yuyuko called out to her friend, seeing her watching them from afar. "Isn't this great? My family. I never thought I would meet them here!" She laughed and giggled, much like the cheery girl she was when she lived. Her father grimaced, and when Yuyuko let go of the hug, he grasped her by the shoulders and faced her with a solemn expression.

"Listen, Yuyuko."

"Yes, father?" He looked so silly when he frowns. Yes, this man is her father all right. She couldn't contain her excitement at all. Family was a concept she constantly saw examples of, from the books of ancient tales of gallantry stored in the library of Hakugyoukurou to the fledglings that chirped happily whenever their mother returned to their nest with captured worms during the times she visited Gensokyo. Such was a wonderful concept, a place one could feel belonged to, but it was something that she never thought she could have for herself. Today was a wonderful day. Youmu will have to cook up something big tonight. It would be a feast to remember.

"Whatever happened to Youmu, father?" She remembered that the girl wanted to be on guard duty today. "How did you get past her?"

Hearing this his face lightened a bit. "Youmu? The girl with the green dress by the stairs? I...put her to sleep." He said, looking somewhat ashamed. "In my defense, she tried to, uh, beat me up."

"Really!" Yuyuko pouted. "That Youmu, disrespecting the head of the proud Saigyouji family! She will have to handle all of the chores for a week! Oh, and serve me snacks at every hour, including dango, mochi with red bean paste, and doriyaki, filled with that sweet cream from the village…"

 ** _Dear…_**

"Hey, doesn't she do all the housework to begin with? And you shouldn't eat that much. A girl of your age should watch her diet."

"Father! Are you saying I'm fat?"

"What? No, I mean you'll just get heavier…wait, no, you'll just get more flab on your stomach if you eat like that. Uh, that's not better, I mean it's healthy to eat well and all, but…"

 ** _Hoshi, my beloved…_**

"Father…" she sniffled, "You are calling me fat…"

"Wait, no! You just need to watch what you eat and—"

"I'm not fat! I'm not fat, right…?"

"Okay, yeah, you're not, you just need to eat some vegetables and exercise. Uh, there are no gyms in Gensokyo, is there? How does one get physically fit in this age, anyway?"

 **Norikiyo Sate.**

Yuyuko's father froze. It was his first time in this life to hear his old birth name getting called, but it delivered a shock nevertheless.

"Ah yes," He sighed, wiping a tear off her face with a stroke of his finger."Yuyuko, I'm sorry about that. You are not a fat at all. You are our beautiful little girl, and I, as your father, was just surprised to see how much you have grown." He backed a step away. "Listen, I have a favor to ask. Would you hear me out?"

She blinked. The sight, the scenery, of his father standing right before her, and the fluttering leaves of the Saigyou Ayakashi behind him, she wished to stay at peace like this forever, with the wind pleasantly ruffling her hair.

"Yuyuko?"

"Why, yes of course," She answered him enthusiastically, but the calm and relaxed sensation from earlier was gone, having replaced by a certain uneasiness for something unpleasant. Why? Why did that sense of happiness leave?"Anything for you, father." She could feel the Saigyou Ayakashi's gaze fixed at both of them. Would it be her stepmother, now that they are a family?

"Look," Her father pointed. "There is Yukari, your friend."

"Yes." She wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she doesn't like it.

"And there is something that only you could do."

"…Yes." That would refer to her gifted power, or curse, to eliminate any life she sees.

She felt his grip on her shoulder tighten, almost to the point of hurting her. "She is a good friend, I'm sure. As your father, I am glad you have met her."

Yuyuko gulped. Her heart was pounding harder than ever, even before seeing his father for the first time. The leaves on her stepmother's branches rustled tensely, as if anxious for something. His father leaned his face in, and his eyes, pure as a spring, reflected her own dazed expression.

"But as you should know, things in life are not forever, and life too, is impermanent."

"What are you saying, father...?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yet, it is because of this temporariness, life itself is sacred, and must be cherished. I want you to not use your power carelessly, but that is something you already knew well. Your mother wants me to convince you to kill Yukari, the only real threat to her life, but I'm not going to let that happen. Too many people have died from my hands. I will _not_ sacrifice any more life for the sake of pursuing beauty, for life is beauty itself."

He left Yuyuko and walked over to the edge of the cliff behind the Saigyou Ayakashi, overlooking a land filled with countless cherry blossoms. A tranquil smile he wore on his pure face, like of an ascended buddha. For having enlightened by core principals of life, he was repossessed by the soul of Saigyou Hoshi, who came back from the Western paradise in order to fulfill his promise with his soulmate.

 _Hate is not conquered by hate, Aya._ He spoke with the holy voice of someone who has long achieved Nirvana. _It is conquered by love, and the act of forgiveness. The one whom you wish to kill is also the one who had breathed life into me._

 ** _Norikiyo..._**

 _You have become more beautiful since our last meeting,_ he turned around, _and you too, Yuyuko. A fine young lady you have grown into._

"You are...father as well?"

 _I am,_ Saigyou Hoshi smiled, his narrow and elongated eyes seemed to have replaced Miles' wide and observant ones. _But only briefly. My time here is short._

 ** _No..._** Saigyou Ayakashi objected. **_You can't leave me again. Not when we have finally reunited._**

 _I am as unwilling to part ways as you are, Aya, but death had taught me that there are things beyond attempts of grasping for a lingering happiness. Our time, short as it may be, was happy, but it was over. We cannot dwell on the past._ He faced the view from the cliff, glancing at the black-blue sky, far from its original shade of dark pink. _Please, cease all this senseless killing. You already got what you want._

Saigyou Ayakashi went silent.

 _Miles had honored our vow, a promise from the words of a dying man a thousand years ago, It had nothing to do with him. He could have just ignored the aching in his heart and move on with his own life. But he chose to stay. Even if the shrine maiden was in the condition of sending him back, he would have stayed, not leaving until finding you here. Give him a chance, Aya, and let him plead. It is the least we could do._

Although reluctant, Saigyou Ayakashi respected his words, and they went through. The sky slowly returned to its natural color, and the spirits, flowing from Gensokyo, stopped at the same time with the week-long snow. Those that were fortunate enough to be yet consumed by it, be it youkai, fairy, or human, blinked in surprise, hardly believing that they were spared from what appeared to be a declarative punishment from the heavens. The Second Spring Snow Incident, as it was known, was finally over.

 _...Thank you, Aya._ Saigyou Hoshi smiled at the tree. It was the same smile that made it fall for him, many years ago. _This would be my last reincarnation. After that, a different soul will be born and create its own fate and legacy. Until then, take care of him, for he is my last gift to you._

 ** _I..._**

 _Believe in him,_ his voice grew faint, as if there was already a long distance between them, _and believe in our bonds._

The poet left, setting on his own pilgrimage that sought to return to his Western paradise. Miles fell on his back, slowly reopening the eyes he was born with. The first thing he saw was a lone petal drifting in the wind, eternally condemned, or blessed, who knows, on a never-ending journey.

 _How nice,_ he thought _. Free from the tree it was bound with. No one knows will it would go._

He took it as a sign that things are over, and it is time to start anew.

"Well," He got back up and dusted the dirt off himself, carefree and easy-going as the lone petal. "Wasn't that fun? Do you still want Yukari dead, Aya? Now that the siphoning of spring is stopped, she would no longer have incentives to kill you."

Yukari stepped up to them. "I still do. What if something like this happens again?"

Miles closed his eyes. "Then, for the sake of Gensokyo, you have my permission to put her out of her misery."

"...Is that to its will?"

He stared at the tree, feasting upon its magnificence with his eyes. But, like the departed spirit of Hoshi, its true beauty on the inside was gone. Heartbreak is a terrible thing, and he could not imagine the pain it must have felt to witness the death of its significant other again, after waiting for a thousand years.

"Yes. A tragic tale it is." He turned around, shaking his head at the two's fate. "Love that blossoms between a youkai and a mortal never ends well."

Yukari scoffed lightly, not of cynicism, but of empathy, something she rarely reserves for a human. "You know that well, it seems like."

Miles gave her a glance and went to his daughter. "What will you do now, father?" she asked.

"I will bear this curse a little while longer. Life is meant to be short, and one should make the best of it, treating others with kindness and giving instead of taking." He turned to Yukari. "A gap back to Sumireko's apartment would be appreciated, assuming you don't have any more business with me."

"Not like it was my intention to bring you here anyway."

"It wasn't?"

She looked at him. "Someone wanted me to bring you here. I thought the two of you already had this planned out."

"No, this was a completely involuntary trip. I knew no one here."

"Not even a Takeyoshi, or his father, Hachirou?"

"First time hearing those names."

Yukari frowned. "They _want_ me to be asking them questions then. Come, I'll send you back to Japan first. You've caused enough trouble as it is."

He grinned at her. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Father?" Yuyuko tugged his arm. "You're going to leave?"

"Yeah." He scratched his head. "Sorry. Just as when I had finally returned to your life, I am going to disappear again. Never would have thought I'd be that type of father. Unless you're happy to come with me..."

"An ancient spirit like her cannot be exposed to the common sense of the outside world," Yukari explained sternly. "She would disappear, essence by essence."

"I can make decisions by myself, Yukari." Yuyuko made a childish expression. "But, it is as she says, father. I wish I could go with you..."

"It's fine." He patted her and fingered through her cherry blossom hair. "I am definitely going to return one day."

Her eyes, teary as they are, faced him. "Promise?"

"Promise."

His daughter grinned, her rosy cheeks having spilled her tears. As the two embraced for what appeared to be the last in a long time, Miles saw the Saigyou Ayakashi behind the hug. It watched him with its invisible eyes. Yes, it is a promise. He will definitely return here one day, to the Netherworld's perfect cherry blossoms.

"Come, then." Yukari opened up a gap behind her with a wave of her closed fan. "You have the airplane fee covered, yes? Working my gaps outside of Japan is rather draining, and I would like some rest after all this fiasco today."

"I'm surprised you know what that is," Miles replied, but stopped in his tracks as he approached. "Hey, Yukari."

"What is it? There's nothing noteworthy in Gensokyo to take as souvenirs."

"Your gap. Is that normal?"

She turned around, expecting to see several pale spindly arms flailing about from the mouth of the gap or similar mundane happenings that caught a lot of people off guard. It wasn't, and she gasped audibly when she saw it.


	58. Day 7 - XI

**_A Little While Ago..._**

Cold.

The wind outside howled like a haunting spirit. Too damn annoying. Why did it have to be so loud?

Cold.

The furnace-heat-whatever thing under the kotatsu is broken. She'd have to find Rinnosuke to fix it later.

 _Cold._

And the damn hole in the screen door, letting the wind in. The day is telling her to get up, isn't it?

"Ugh." Reimu sat up and scratched the dried drool on her face. She got up and fixed herself a small bowl of rice for a late breakfast. Spring should be here, but winter for some reason just wouldn't go away. She had been rationing so long she almost forgot what a proper meal looked like, never mind its taste.

 _Oh, that's right._ The spring festival is supposed to be today. She would have been bothered to prepare for it days before if it wasn't for the nasty wound that little brat Flandre gave her. That thirsty little bloodsucker, the next time she sees her, not even her big sister could wriggle her out...

Well, no one is going to come now. The freak snow's getting worse and worse lately. Who in their right mind would hike a small mountain in this weather? She'd have to reschedule the festival some other time. Maybe next week...

The barrier.

She dropped her chopsticks and the small clump of hard, barely cooked rice. Oversleeping. The worst possible excuse for the destruction of the human village in Gensokyo, the one her predecessors had protected for ages. All will go down in the drain, just because she wanted her delicious dream to last several seconds longer.

Spewing a long string of words that would have left people shaking their heads and mutter about the state of today's youth, Reimu hastily threw on her robe and grabbed her gohei before practically kicking down the screen doors. She's way overdue of the activation of her miniature Hakurei Barrier. If she goes into maximum speed she _should_ be able to reach the village before it closes on her...theoretically.

She wasn't prepared for the scenery when she stepped off the front porch, however.

Youkai, fairies and even the few crazy humans who lived outside the village all crowded around her shrine, huddled against one another. Was the weather so cold that even these guys trembled? Maybe she had been taking her divine protection for granted, just a little bit.

"The hell are you all doing here at my shrine?" She demanded, having forgotten about the Barrier for the moment. "The festival's rescheduled, haven't you heard?"

"P-P-Please..." One of the humans, an old, bald man who was so skinny one could mistake him for a walking skeleton pleaded her, having wrapped himself in a dull colored blanket full of makeshift patches. "S-Save us, o Hakurei shrine m-maiden..."

"Save you? What's going on here?"

But she was too late. The old man fell limp, his darkened eyes wide open and his mouth aghast. Great, another human died on the property of her shrine. That was all she needed.

"D-D-Don't you remember him?" A youkai with messy hair and scrawny limbs crawled up to her, shaking. "H-He was that man w-who stole y-your trousers the other day..."

"What are you talking about? That's not him. The despicable pervert was so fat he looked like the Buddha himself. Well, one of the Eastern ones, at least. But you get the point! How could he be this...this creepy old man?"

"T-T-That's him, all right." The youkai pointed at the dried husk of a corpse.

Reimu would have thought of it as a distasteful joke if it were not for the uneasy feeling in her gut. Maybe...it's telling the truth? Her intuition has been tingling nonstop ever since rescuing that Amerisomething Westerner, but she thought it was just malfunctioning, if that was possible.

"So what happened?" She asked. "Why are you all at my shrine?" Something is weird. Could this be the start of a new incident?

The youkai muttered something unintelligible, but she might have understood it after giving it some thought if she wasn't distracted by what sounded like an unusually loud crackle. She turned around and saw a bunch of fairies standing around where her donation box is. Except...the donation box is no more. A red fairy, looking no older than a small child, stood in front of an incinerated pile of ash. When it noticed that Reimu was staring at her, it gave a surprised yelp and flew away. The mishmash crowd of youkai, fairies, and humans gazed at her wordlessly for a moment, then somehow found the strength to scatter like a bunch of cockroaches, hoping to gain a head start from the impending apocalypse.

Reimu instead found a torrent of blood pouring from her mouth, and the bandages by her lower abdomen felt sickeningly wet. She dropped her gohei and fell flat faced into the brittle snow, unable to comprehend what just happened.


	59. Day 7 - XII

"Goddammit, where the hell is Reimu?"

"Please calm down, my lord."

"Her barrier is going to activate soon! What will we do if it suddenly breaks down, or explodes, or...I don't know. Why did we ever agree to do this again?"

The son of the village chief, no, he is known as something greater now, paced back and forth around the gate. They agreed to meet up about an hour ago yesterday.

"The imitation of the Barrier is the only way we could ever possibly avoid having our souls siphoned by the Saigyou Ayakashi," Youki, who had been waiting with him, answered. "This is a bet we have to believe in."

"What about Yukari?" Takeyoshi suggested, though by now it was a tad bit too late. "She could bring us somewhere safe with her gaps. Somewhere out of Gensokyo, possibly, but..."

"That is impossible, my lord." Youkai shook his head, his long beard swaying slightly in the snow. "She will never agree to our plans. It was a miracle that we even got up to this far without her noticing."

The two continued to silently wait for the tardy shrine maiden. When they did saw something coming in their way, it turned out to be someone else entirely.

"Behold," Miko said, slowly landing in the snow. "The Taoist saint has descended down from the heavens." As easy-going as ever, she stood unfazed from the cold weather, going as far as wearing a short sleeved top and a purple dress, as if it was a casual day in summer.

"Where the hell have you been?" Takeyoshi demanded. "You've been missing since early morning today."

"My most sincere apologies," she said, despite not sounding like she meant it, "but I have been trying to take care of a small problem that will surely bite us back in the future."

"Small problem?" Youki narrowed his eyes and gave her something between a glare and a scowl. Takeyoshi didn't need to be told that Youki doesn't trust Miko. She is way too carefree for a scheme as grand as the one his father brewed. But her shrewdness, as well a lifetime of experience in politics, could prove to be a valuable asset to the cause. The Konpaku clansman will need to learn the art of putting up with people he didn't like, if they want this alliance to be intact. "My lord," he said, turning around. "It is time."

"Time?" Takeyoshi echoed. Miko, with surprising strength for a human, more so a woman, grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him behind the gates. He considered if he should complain about getting man(?)handled, when the scenery of the blanketed white just inches from where he once stood vanished completely, replaced by an empty, violet dome that reminded him of the insides of Yukari's gaps.

"If what I think is correct, you'll find the back of the human village if you walk down that way." Miko pointed her shaku at the little dirt road unearthed from the snow. "The Great Hakurei Barrier, in theory, mirrors the landscape it covers. Just like how you would find yourself on the other side of Gensokyo if you keep walking in one direction, the village will be the only place you find no matter how much distance you cover."

He gulped. Though the air here is breathable, and will never run out, according to Reimu, something about the time here moving slower, he couldn't help but feel anxious, getting trapped in this place. The dead sky is unsettling. There were no clouds and there were no birds. Even the snow from earlier was more comforting than this sterile environment.

"So it activated before she could arrive..." he said, despairing the consequences. "What will we do if anything goes wrong?"

"I assure you there's something better to worry about." Miko then saw her subordinate Futo running towards then. "Ah, perfect timing. Futo, what is the condition of the village right now?"

"Twelve people hath died by snow," she said, kneeling, "and about seventy hadst collapsed."

"Did anymore fall into either of the categories when the Barrier was activated?"

"None."

"And the food and water supplies?"

"The same when the Dragon Prince hath checked a few hours ago: ample supplies of both. 'Tis enough to last us for a little over than some ten years if it be true we ration well."

"Ten years," Miko tilted her head towards the sky, gazing at its blank sea of stars. "Do you think we can survive ten years in here, with no sun to grow crops, no external supply of fresh water to water them, and no fodder for the animals to eat?"

When Takeyoshi was not able to come up with an answer, she continued. "I have been observing the imitation barrier since the girl had put it up yesterday, and if you want my humble opinion, you should not worry about it exploding or collapsing or whatever is it that you fear in your head anymore. Basic hygiene and etiquette aside, skill is one thing that shrine maiden doesn't lack, to be able to put up a perfection copy as this miniature version. She might be able to put up a real Hakurei Barrier of her own, given time. Who knows."

"That is true, Prince," Futo said, "but what of our provisions? The barrier may be stable, but doth we knoweth at which hour wilt our supplies expire?"

"Futo, I think it's time for you to stop calling me that. You will just confuse the villagers more after the announcement, nevermind your atrocious accent."

"I doth not bethink thither is anything wrong with mine way of speech, Master."

"Miko," Takeyoshi looked at her. "You sound like you have a solution."

"I wouldn't call it a solution, but it may be able to make your village last a little longer than ten years." She then disappeared. Before Takeyoshi could exclaim anything in surprise, a purple cape furled itself into existence, and Miko came out from it with a flick. In her hand was a fuzzy peach, ripened to a perfect pink.

"How did you..."

"Apparently the imitation did not seal away Senkai," Miko bit into the peach. A sweet and mellow aroma flowed its plump essence. Takeyoshi felt his stomach growling, even though he had an extravagant lunch just hours ago. "Ah, never gets old."

"What is this Senkai?" Youki frowned.

"A world I created for hermits. All of its exits to Gensokyo was sealed, though, probably because I tried to access it in here. Anyway, the point is that I have a small orchard full of these, and I could bring them here."

"Peaches?" Takeyoshi tried to hold back his drool. Never in his life there has been such an enticing fruit. Strange. Why is it so alluring?

"From heaven. Someone managed to get their hands on a seed when a celestial came down to wreck havoc some time ago. Stealing it from them is a crime punishable by a fate a thousand time worse than death, so they were more than happy to pass it off to me.

"Hold on, heaven? As in, _heaven?"_

 _"_ Hey, the heaven here isn't as grandiose as the supposed heaven of all, particularly the one in the West. It's just a place far up where celestials and dragons live."

"My point still stands. Is that what they eat?"

"The only thing they eat. Here, I figured you would be greedily eyeing mine, so I brought a second one." She tossed him another heavenly peach from the depths of her cape. Takeyoshi caught it with a degree of desperation as if it was an infant.

"C-Can I really eat this?"

"You're going to get sick of it by the time you go back up there, Dragon Prince, so you should enjoy your first time."

With a final shred of his humanity, he held the peach towards Youki and offered it to him. To his surprise, he strongly declined. Unable to resist his temptation any longer, he chomped into the peach, savoring its divine flavor and its holy juices that dripping down his chin and fingers, glistening like a pale shade of honey bathed in sunlight. To him, the peach did not feel like a fruit. It was something far greater than the mere earthly notion of food.

"I feel like...I don't need to eat anything else in my life." He said a little while later when he was finished. All that remained of the peach now was its rock-hard core, and even then he tried biting into it at times.

"It is very filling," Miko said, tossing her core to Futo, who caught it and shoved it into her sleeve. "One can have it and not eat and drink anything for around a week. Oh, and supposedly it can grant you divine strength, should you have a consistent diet."

She may be just telling the truth. Eating that peach, it seemed, had made him feel a lot stronger, and not just physically as well. Though still nervous, he no longer finds the incoming announcement to be so unnerving.

"I just hope," he found the will to say, "that it is not addictive."

"It's not, but you'll find it to be _extremely_ hard to eat anything else."

"Then," he breathed out, letting the cool, if not dead air, filling his lungs. Never did breathing feel so good before. "If you have enough, distribute one of those peaches to every able bodied man once a week. Leave the rest of the food to the general populace."

She smirked. "Can do, boss."

"Master, the villagers consists of thousands!" Futo worryingly exclaimed. "Do we have enough?

"When was the last time you saw my orchard? Those things grow _fast_ , you know. No wonder why those guys up there are tired of it."

* * *

While they headed back to the village, taking a narrow, abandoned street as a shortcut to the town square, Youki walked up to Miko and matched her untroubled pace.

"What was that small problem you mentioned before?" He spoke with his naturally low but commanding voice. One might hear it as an impatient growling, and therefore always feel small around Youki. But not Miko.

"Oh? I am glad to see that you still remember, old man. Not senile yet, eh?"

When she saw that he stared straight ahead and has to intention of replying to that witty remark, she shrugged and went on. "Don't share the sense of humor our precious Prince have, eh? Well, I doubt he would have the time for that anymore, but still."

A man of few words. She could now see why Takeyoshi likes him. Reliable, trustworthy, and straight to the point. Well, she'll do her best to qualify as his advisor, but to be exactly like the old man was out of question. It's just so _boring_.

"You haven't seen Yukari Yakumo lately, have you?" She answered his question with her own seemly irrelevant question.

"...No, she has been quiet. Too quiet." Youkai briefly looked to the sides, vigilant for any surprises. "I don't like it."

"You don't have to worry about her anymore, then. Let me just say that I've made sure she's staying quiet...forever."

It was for a moment, but she saw it. He had widened his light green eyes in shock. "You've...You've killed her?"

"Oh no no," she hastily denied the credit, as amusing as the thought may be, "that is certainly not achievable. Challenging the Overseer to a direct, one on one combat? I'd sooner plan a raid to that Buddhist woman's temple."

"What did you do, then?"

She chuckled. "All I did was to cast a spell that prevented any attempts of getting in or out of the Netherworld. You see, she was there when I visited, and I was real lucky to pull it off without her noticing me, especially with all the spiritual energy I had to use. That Zhou Bai, a real piece of work, wasn't he?"

"You've...sealed her away? In the Netherworld?"

"Hopefully, but I am confident in my own drawing of the Golden Star Net. Her gaps shouldn't be able to function while she is in there. And if she tried to force her way through, well, her shinigami servant had the honors of testing that part for me, and it worked really well from the nasty scream she gave."

"You've eliminated Yukari Yakumo," Youki grunted, though with a trained ear one could tell he does not sound grumpy. Not at all. This may be the closest she will ever see him express such vivid emotions. "Who is one of the strongest youkai in Gensokyo, if not all of Japan. Not even Hachirou, with the collective knowledge and wisdom of his predecessors, could think of a way to bypass her..."

"Hey, no need to praise me." Miko took out _The Other Way_ from the world inside of her cape. "It was all thanks to this."

"That's the book I was told to find in the outside world...!"

"A real lucky find, then, because it may have just made this crazy plan of yours work." She leaned back and laughed cheerfully. Takeyoshi, walking ahead of them, shot back a curious look. "I mean, talking a tree into committing mass murder for you just so that it can reunite with its 'soulmate'? And then lead your trained men to finish off the weakened youkai? I thought I woke up to a boring time in history, but so far things are making me glad I was wrong."

"Toyosatomimi no Miko," Youki whispered, "just what kind of a hermit are you...?"

"An awfully scary one, from the looks of it." Takeyoshi answered it for him. There was a large crowd when they arrived at the town square. From farmers to merchants, from the zashiki-warishi, one of the only few tolerated youkai around, to his loyal servants of his household, what seems to be like the entire population watched, waiting to hear a plausible explanation for the sudden ominous change of the land and the sky. Takeyoshi took up to the elevated platform and peered at Youki and Miko, who stood behind him. They nodded back in response. He took a deep breath and began.

The village, with his carefully chosen words, was lead to believe that the malevolent snow was caused by the youkai, and the Dragon Prince, son of the Dragon God himself, was the one who stopped it. The protective dome they were covered in was a countermeasure for the snow, and they were told that it was their chance to prepare themselves for the fateful moment of revolution.

Some cheered, some held one another, but most were on their knees, praying fervently. The gods, it seemed, had finally answered their calls, after centuries of suffering. No longer will they have to rely on the Hakurei shrine maiden. It is time for each man to take control of their own destiny. The humankind of Gensokyo will retake what is theirs.


	60. Final Chapter

**Final Chapter - Intersecting Fates**

* * *

When she turned and saw her gap, the feeling of astonishment, genuine no less, absent for almost a decade of her recent lifespan, took her by surprise. A golden summoning pattern in the shape of a rotating circle overlapped the stretched mouth of the gap. It was filled with numerous classical Chinese by the outer rim, and a large, hand-drawn star hung in the center, each of its five corners blinking at independent intervals, signaling the absence of the required energy sources.

But never mind the missing Four Beasts of the Directions. The drawing of the pattern itself was an impossibility, as it should have died out with its creator long ago.

"I feel like...I know this, from somewhere." Miles said.

"Zhou Bai of the Song Dynasty," she said. "Do you know him?"

"...No, not really." He shrugged."All of my memories associated with Saigyou Hoshi's past has been completely erased the moment his soul left. It's a miracle that I'm still able to speak Japanese."

"He is an old friend of his," Yukari explained, "as well as the famed youkai, no, _yaoguai_ exterminator of 11th century China." She backed a few steps away from her gap, and those with a sharp eye could tell she was capable of being nervous as well. A few drops of sweat even trickled down her forehead, as hidden as they were behind her hair. "This thing...he is responsible for its creation, and if anything nonhuman comes in contact..."

Miles reached his hand in. The pattern distorted its shape as it wavered like a ripple, but otherwise nothing disastrous happened.

"So I take this as a sign I'm human."

"...That was reckless of you."

"Well, this doesn't really change anything, does it? You don't have to come with me, just make sure that the destination is somewhere in Sumireko's apartment. You remember where it is, right?"

"Not possible. This seal has disabled my ability to fully manipulate it. If you walk in, you'll be transported to the endless void you see inside of my gaps, home to many creatures that is not even eligible to be referred to as youkai."

"Oh.." Miles pulled his hand out. "'How Back Out From Something in Ten Seconds'. You'd be a great source to quote from, if anyone ever writes a book like that."

Yukari, with a firm wave of her arm, summoned a row of smaller gaps in thin air. Upon inspection, they too, were afflicted with the holy seal.

"There goes my plans on traveling around the world." Miles crossed his arms, then looked at Yukari. "What would happen if anything nonhuman touches it?"

She gazed back, then, as to answer his seemly innocent question, she flicked a strand of her hair into a gap. A tiny streak of pale blue electricity ran through it and the hair dissolved to nothing within moments.

"Huh."

"Just be glad that you are human."

"For once."

But just how did this happen? Zhou Bai, as far as she knew, died without leaving a disciple, nor did any of his family members learned of his secrets.

"You think you had anything to do with this?" she asked him, now wary of a suspicion she had ever since he admitted he knew no one here. He doesn't seem to be the type to lie, so he must have been used. Perhaps her as well.

"Even if it does, I wouldn't know now," Miles replied. "You look pretty bummed out about this. Is this Zhou Bai that scary?"

"Was. He's dead now. Better that way, for him and for us." Dismissing her gaps, she walked to the direction towards the garden."There is still the Border of Life and Death. We'll get you crossed from there and have Reimu send you back."

* * *

"You didn't have to come," Miles said in between his exasperated breaths. These stairs did not feel so tiring when he climbed up.

"I want to see you off," his daughter said, playfully hopping from one staircase to another. "Say father, what is this curse you and mother constantly speak of?"

"Mother? You're way too quick to call her that, Yuyuko." He stared straight ahead, expressionless. "Well, to be honest, I don't know. It's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But I have no idea where it came from, nor I know why. Yukari?"

He heard her sigh. "I only recall from others," she replied as she walked ahead of them, "but according to those that knew him, Hoshi supposedly was a charmer. Whether intentional or not, he attracted a great deal of followers, and usually they were the opposite sex."

"And he still calls himself a monk. How did he get the curse?"

"...One day, a powerful fortune goddess just so happened to be infatuated with him. If memories serve, I may have seen her myself."

"Did she get...well, jealous? If TV shows had taught my anything, it's that something like that is bound to happen."

"Might have. Not many remember this tale. The Konpaku clan that Youmu belonged to, a family of fanatics dedicated on following your footsteps, recorded it down somewhere, but it must have been lost in history."

Miles blew on a passing petal. It fluttered and drifted away from his face, peacefully.

"So why is it that dying underneath Saigyou Ayakashi was the only cure for my curse?" He asked. "Is it because she had something to do with their affair? "

"If you ask me, I think the fortune goddess may have regretted her actions. She most likely pitied him, as some sentiments must have still lingered, and gave him a way to weasel out."

"Awfully nice of her."

"This is the Heian era we're talking about here. Classical codes of morality were present even amongst divine beings. That, and Hoshi was, well, very effective at seducing others."

"You sound like you knew him pretty well."

"Please, I was but a youngling at the time, unless you'd like to confess that you find it pleasurable thinking about children."

"Pretty sure 'children' like you were way older than him at that time." Miles scratched his head. "Damn it, just how good looking was that old man? Why can't he pass down some of his unearthly charms to me as well?"

"Father," Yuyuko made a face, "you still didn't answer my question. What did your curse exactly do?"

Miles, for a brief second, lost his casual demeanor and looked hurt. "It's the worst thing a writer could bear."

They descended with silence until they arrived at the platform where Youmu lay unconscious. Yuyuko shook her by the shoulders, trying to wake her up. When she did, and saw Miles, her hands instinctively reached for her swords.

"The one whom your family had served for generations finally came back," Yukari said, "and the first thing you do is that?

She blinked and looked at her master. While Yuyuko recounted the return of her father, Miles went and picked up her wakizashi, trying to wipe off the haiku he wrote on the blade. It did not work. Kourindou brand (trademarked) permanent markers did its wonders, and no amount of scrubbing could erase the poem.

"Here." He gave up and sheathed it back into the scabbard, handing it to her. "Sorry for ruining your sword with my sub-par poem."

She accepted it with a blank expression. Mouth agape, she went on her knees and prostrated. "N-No! It is an honor beyond words to have a poem personally composed by the head of the Saigyouji clan himself! I shall cherish it with my life!" When she remembered that she had mutilated him beyond words at multiple occasions, Youmu attempted to commit seppuku on the spot. After she was pleaded to stop, they let her join them and walked down until they reached the Border of Life and Death at the bottom. There, sitting on the ground, was Ran, who stared at her hand absentmindedly. Or rather, what is left of her hand.

"Ran?" Yukari approached her shinigami. "What...happened to you?"

Ran looked up at her. She tested the fingers of her skeletal hand, then pointed at the Border. "Toyosatomimi no Miko...she was here."

A wave of uneasiness troubled Yukari. She opened up a gigantic gap, large enough to cover the entirety of the Border, and sure enough, expected but nevertheless shocking, it was filled with an equally large seal from top to bottom, rotating counterclockwise as it gleamed brilliantly.

Miles placed a hand on her shoulder in a meager attempt to console.

"Holy Seal – 'Golden Star Net of the Four Directions'," Yukari flicked his hand away and closed her eyes, trying to recall everything she knows about the ritual from her painful lesson years ago. "Empowered by the essence of the Four Beasts of Directions—White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and Vermillion Bird—it's a complex ritual devised by Zhou Bai as a rather straightforward way to contain malicious yaogaui and youkai. Nothing short of a minor god could get past it when all four beasts are active, but even without them, as in this case, the seal itself can still act as an extremely advanced anti-youkai barrier that could purify them to the core."

She frowned. _It's no good. Even with all the experiences, wisdom, and ideas I have gathered since then, I am still unable to find a loophole or ways to bypass it._ This summoning pattern is a display of true skill and perfection, apparently still timelessly unparalleled in terms of defensive power. Even if her gaps were not disabled, they would still not be able to tap within any of the boundaries it contained. Despite him being an enemy of youkai and the alike, Zhou Bai was a man she had come to respect, and even today he managed to impress her, countless years after his death.

"Ran," Yukari turned to her faithful servant, "you said that the Shotoku hermit was here? Did you see her do anything strange?"

"...Strange?"

"She must have been the one who set this seal up. From the outside, most likely." Yukari clicked her tongue out of sheer annoyance. "That means, while the primary seal is still active on the Border of Life and Death, my gaps cannot function, as the space they access within the Netherworld is connected with each other."

"I tried to use the gap you gave me," Ran recalled, staring at the Border, "Miko exited through it, and when I reached in to grab her, this happened."

Yukari opened and closed her fan several times and muttered something. "...This is unbelievable, just as I thought this day couldn't get any worse." Did Zhou Bai really leave behind a secret disciple that she didn't know about? Toyosatomimi no Miko, if the rumors of her formerly being Prince Shotoku is correct, lived at least five hundred years before him. It just doesn't add up...

"Here, lemme try." Miles stepped forward. "Turn your gap off. It might still recognize me." When it was closed, he touched the Border with one hand. Five minutes later, as they waited, there still wasn't any response. "Guess I'm not going anywhere then." He sighed and placed his hands on his hip.

"Correction, poet, _we're_ not going anywhere," Yukari replied.

"How about we try calling Reimu?" His daughter suggested. "She could break through it easily, though you'd have to fix it again."

"I could if I can at least direct a destination and inform her, but even then, she'll have to undo the seal first, and that is something no ordinary shrine maiden could do."

"She is ordinary, now?"

"When compared to this. It's the epitome of divine magic, I'm afraid."

They stood there, murmuring. Many ideas were suggested, and some were executed, but none seemed to work. No one mentioned it, but they all knew that it was merely a matter of when to give into despair. What could anyone else do, if Yukari Yakumo of all people, is hopelessly stumped?

"So we are trapped in here," Miles summed out their situation, if not too blunt about it. "I guess the only thing we could do is to wait until help arrives."

"The last place they would go looking for us is here in the Netherworld."

"Hence the waiting." Miles smiled. He felt rebirthed, and the aching in his heart was gone. Long gone, ever since Hoshi lifted his burden that was placed onto him from who knows how long. He is now free to choose what to do with his life, and it might not be so bad living here with the cherry blossoms. _Sumireko,_ he was the only one who did not feel distraught at the situation. In fact, he is optimistic as ever in life. _H_ _ow have you been? Are the police still searching for me? I hope my old man is okay. I'd hate to see him worry more than he has to. How's life on your side? I remember you telling me your graduation is coming up. That's great, isn't it? Soon you'll be starting high school. You can finally start the Secret Sealing Club you've been going on about._

 _As for me, I visited the wonderland Wendy dreamed of, and I have to say, it's not so bad, once you get used to all the uncommon sense here. Things are looking a little bit grim on our side, but I know for a fact we will make it through. It's just a matter of how to make the best of it, and with me on their side, it might not be so difficult._

 _I wonder if we'll ever meet again? It's possible, but the chances, as of now, are pretty slim. So while I'm still away, would you pay my respects at her grave for me? Drop by a pack of UNO cards, if you can, for old time's sake._

The faint snow of the Netherworld stopped as the last flake landed softly onto his hair.


	61. Epilogue & Author's Notes

**Epilogue**

* * *

It's been some time since he was last here. He could feel the analyzing gazes of the cherry blossoms around him as he climbed, watching his every move. Youkai, all of them. Who knows how many men they lured with their unearthly charms, only to have their souls consumed as nothing but fertilizer for their nourishment? If they were not a part of his friend's property. he would have exterminated them long ago.

"So you really came." An old, pleasant looking man greeted him as he reached atop of the stairs. A violet robe he wore, with a large yellow sash across his stomach. The traditional attire of a Buddhist monk, in search of enlightenment. "I want you to know how grateful I am for you to come."

The monk was already deathly pale, so it was not a surprise for him to see the old man losing his footing. He caught him by the shoulders and propped him against his sturdy body.

"I do not know what has gotten into you," he said, carrying the old man as they slowly walked towards his magnificent mansion.

The old monk chuckled weakly. "It is the dream of men to die their own way."

"You would rather die underneath a tree than surrounded by your friends and loved ones?"

"They are all here." The monk smiled, then he coughed painfully. "You shouldn't have come for me. The emperor, he was calling for you, wasn't he?"

"No emperor is above my friend."

When they passed through the gates, they saw a small girl staring at them by the front yard. Dark as the night of a full bloom, her hair is reminiscent of what the monk had during his better days. The gorgeous daughter of the old man, she is a byproduct of an affair he had not so long ago. In a way, the girl reminded him of the famous Princess Kaguya, with suitors already trying to win her affection her young age. Her father, gentle and amiable as he may be, allowed none to succeed. At least, not until his inevitable departure. He wondered if it was them who did this to him.

Perhaps it was the first time he had a child, perhaps he felt sympathetic to the mother who died of giving birth. Whatever his reasons might be, the monk accepted the girl as a part of his life and cherished her more so than his own. But his untimely age did not give him the chance to fully cultivate a family, and it did not help that his time here was drastically shortened when he was poisoned several weeks ago. One has to give credit for the old man to wrestle with the frigid clasps of death this long.

"Father?" The girl spoke in a low voice, fidgeting her tiny hands underneath her sleeves. "Where are you going?"

"I'm...I'm..." The monk stopped for another cough. He tried to hide the blood inside his mouth. "I am going to see your mother. Stay inside, until Uncle White comes back."

Uncle White, the alias he was known to his daughter, carried the monk inside the mansion, who tried his best to look straight ahead and not meet her eyes.

The air here in the Netherworld did not suit a mortal like him; it was intoxicatingly inviting, any if he gives in, it would cost him more than his life. But he will have to endure it for the sake of the monk, who is already in terrible pain in many ways. White silently muttered a prayer to the many Buddhas across history.

 _Soon, old friend. Soon you will find the Western Paradise you have been searching throughout your life._

He felt a presence when they reached the back garden. The large rock to their right.

"H-Hey, I didn't do anything wrong this time!" When he glared at it, a dark hole opened from the rock's top and the torso of a girl who seemed to be the age of the monk's daughter climbed out. She had the looks of a foreigner with those golden locks and snowy skin.

"You," White said, narrowing his eyes. "What are you doing here? Haven't you learned your lesson?"

"I-I'm just watching! He let me." The girl nervously replied. No, not a girl. It's a gap youkai. Though he had only read about their curious existence in an ancient bestiary of sorts, he was warned that they are an extremely dangerous species and must not to be underestimated. Last year, he was hired by the locals outside the Netherworld to put a stop to the youkai, who was terrorizing the area. It was only thanks to the monk that they did not break into full fighting. Apparently, it was a friend of his daughter's. What might have happened if they were not intervened he shuddered to imagine.

"Let her watch..." The monk croaked with blood dripping from his mouth, unable to hide it any longer. He then seemed to have lost conscious for a brief moment. White studied at the gap youkai for a bit, trying to determine if it was as malevolent as last time, then he moved on, carrying the monk to his tree and leaned his body against it.

"She says...thank you...for bringing me here." The monk reopened his eyes, which looked as frail as his pale skin. He may be on the verge of going to the other side, but for once, he saw the resemblance towards his daughter. "I...as well. I am truly grateful for you."

"What about the fortune goddess's curse?" White said, "I have yet found a cure. A diviner told me that it is potent enough to last through several, if not all, of your next lifetimes."

The monk smiled, but he did not try to mask his grief. Behind him, the cherry tree shed a few petals to touch his cheeks, as if trying to comfort him.

 _You mourn not for your own self-pity,_ White thought, _but for those who had to suffer from it. I can only hope that they do not aspire to be writers._

"Young mistress!" A voice called out from behind. White turned. It was the current head of the famous Konpaku clan, who now dedicated themselves to serve the monk. The toddler son, Youki, trailed behind him. "Please don't go over there!"

The monk's daughter wandered out of the back garden, looking left and right until she saw the gap youkai by the rock. It tried to smile at her.

"Yukari? Where is Father?"

It looked away, but it pointed at the youkai tree by the cliff. The monk's daughter ran. She tripped once, but pushed herself back up and scurried to where her father lay, falling to her knees. The Konpaku head and his son joined her, and while Youki is too young to understand, his father lowered his eyes with remorse.

"Father..." The daughter quietly sobbed. Her hics and sniffles seemed to have got the monk's fading attention. He smiled weakly at her before his eyes grayed out. With the last of his breath he managed to whisper something to the tree, a final farewell, perhaps, or a masterful poem to compliment on its beauty for the last time. When his head hung still, White solemnly walked up to him and shuts his eyes.

His beloved tree was named Saigyou Ayakashi, as people had come to call it, or Youkai of Saigyou. The largest cherry blossom in the Netherworld, maybe even the world. Did it really love the monk back? That is something White himself will never know. It only spoke to the monk and his daughter.

"It was his will before he died," he said to the tree, "I hope you can understand."

He did not know whether or not it replied, but it doesn't matter. It was the monk's wish to him to carry his corpse back to the Hirokawa Temple. A poet to the heart, he pursued romance until the very end, sneaking out of there just so that he can rest beneath a cherry blossom.

The monk's daughter followed him with her eyes as he passed her, carrying his father's body the same way they came in. He was told that she might have already suspected his death, as she had been blessed with a strange sort of power concerning it. Poor little thing. She's now an orphan.

"Where will you go now?" The gap youkai, who had been watching them, asked him, trying to look nonchalant about the whole event, but White could tell that she was concerned. But for whom? The monk, the daughter, or their family as a whole?

He closed his eyes. "I am bringing him back to the temple."

It pursed its lips in a thoughtful way. "You'll save a lot of time if you use my gap."

White chuckled softly. "You wish for me to never come back, do you?". Normally he shows little more than a stoic grimace when facing a youkai, but this one here reminded him of his own daughter, who lived with her mother in a small province back in the Northern Song. Like many of the modern youkai, it took on a natural human appearance. Those who studies them theorized that the form was to lure unsuspecting mortals. If that was the case, then it is a very effective trap indeed, as many of them are dangerously alluring, just like these cherry blossoms.

"I..." He blinked. There he goes again, thinking about them when his friend had just died. "Tell me, youkai. Does your kind ever read books?"

It crossed its slender and gloved arms. "Not all of us are uncivilized, you know."

So there exists a possibility that they would get their hands on it. His legacy to the next generation, written solely for those who has the will to disobey fate. Too many had fallen before his eyes, unable to defy their destinies. The monk was the only exception. When a passing Buddhist disciple informed him of his escape from the Hirokawa Temple, he knew there would be only one place for him to go.

"I see." Youkai or not, he entrusts his will to the future. White tilted his head towards the unusually colored sky. Several spirits glided in the mild wind, dancing with the petals. He never quite understood what the monk was so fascinated about this place, but now he has a better grasp of it. "Do you think he became one of them?"

But he left before she could come up with a reply.

Freedom. It's because this place is free. Now he could see why the many poets and philosophers expressed such high opinions of it.

 **Madness Inducing Blossom and Paper - End**

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Whew, it's been almost a year. What a journey has it been. I thank all of you who have been sticking with me ever since I published this idea of mine in January. I truly appreciate the support.

Sorry for my wonky uploading schedule, by the way. Life tends to get the better of me. Now then, here I will address a few questions some of you might have, and for those that care. Let us begin.

 **Whatever happened to the Spell Card system?**

Might be the only serious question here. Those of you that are keen and knowledgeable with Touhou Project may have noticed that during the several fights present throughout the story, none of them involved anyone using Spell Cards. To the uninitiated, the Spell Card system is a canon way of dueling designed for humans and weak youkai. They are manifested as bullet barrages, or danmaku, as seen in the traditional games. It's a clever solution devised for those who wish to settle a grudge, but lack power and want to avoid bloodshed. It's probably due to this that Gensokyo is still intact in the canon timeline right now, since the big players can't really use their powers without making things boom. (Some of the games were pretty insane though, and came close to actually demonstrating true consequences. Okuu, with one tiny slip of hand, would have nuked Gensokyo, while Junko was just pure crazy.)

So where was it in Madness Inducing Blossom and Paper? Simply put, it never happened. The reason for me not incorporating the Spell Card system into the story is that I couldn't think of a way to utilize it. I'm sure there are better writers out there who could use it well in their stories. The good ol' razzle dazzle in this case was chosen instead, as a way to settle disputes. In this timeline, Reimu never invented Spell Cards, and everyone has to watch where and how they choose to swing, because otherwise they might just accidentally destroy Gensokyo, nevermind the poor sod they were fighting.

 **Wait...What happened with Reimu? Did she die?**

I get this a lot from my friends. The answer is no, she didn't die, and she practically can't, because she is, well, Reimu. As to what happened, let's just say that she got punished for being too greedy and blindly agreeing to help out with Takeyoshi with setting up the miniature Hakurei Barrier.

 **Is Miles immortal?**

I can't believe I couldn't find a way to properly explain it into the story without it sounding unnatural, but yes, he is immortal for the time being, demonstrated from his bout with Youmu. It's a part of the fortune goddess's curse. The only way for him to die is by resting underneath the shades of Saigyou Ayakashi, as Saigyou Hoshi did, or at the exact same age the aforementioned monk died, which was around 71-72, according to Wikipedia. Yes, he was a real person. Miles' previous (human) incarnations all died around that age, incidentally.

 **So who was this fortune goddess?**

No clue, if you want explicit details and backstory. Just an unnamed OC I made with while coming up with Miles' curse. The same applies to Youki's father, the Konpaku head. If you really want an imagery for her, think of Hina but with a different hair style and a more..."fortunate" figure, should I say? She _is_ a fortune goddess, after all. Oh, and the curse is part of a reason why Hina found Miles earlier in the story, when she came down from the Youkai Mountain to investigate.

 **What is the true nature of Miles' curse?**

1\. Whenever he writes down something on paper, the misfortune of those around him are gathered into his words. When someone else reads it, the concentrated misfortune spreads into them and viola, they die of an accident later.

2\. While not exactly part of the curse itself, it does contribute as part of its identity. The seething imagery his audience gets from reading Miles' writing came from Saigyou Hoshi's own writing ability. He was so good with words that they came alive in your mind. But like his unearthly charms, not all of it passed to Miles through the hundreds of reincarnations he went through. What he has now is only a fraction of Hoshi's true ability, long lost in time.

3\. Youkai, gods, fairies, and other non-human entities are immune to the misfortune affect. The fortune goddess, despite being mad at Hoshi, still wished to read the poems he wrote that complimented on her beauty, so she most likely made that as an exception.

4\. Last but not least, as mentioned before, Miles cannot fully die until he reaches the age Hoshi died, or if he perishes underneath Saigyou Ayakashi. The cherry petals heals him, as seen in his confrontation with Youmu, but I guess it works regardless. His limbs, if severed, will defy laws of physics and fly back to reattach to his body, as if healed by Crazy D, because he is the main character and you can't do anything about it.

 **Why is Yuyuko's last name Saigyouji, when her father, Hoshi, is named Saigyou?**

This came directly from Touhou Wiki, and essentially, ZUN himself, but Yuyuko's last name, Saigyouji, means " _Western Journey Temple_ ". The name Saigyou, by itself, means " _West Journey_ ", as adopted by Hoshi as part of his Buddhist name while in search of the Western Paradise. The "ji" in Saigyouji means " _Temple_ ", and because Hoshi historically died in the Hirokawa Temple, it could explain where her last name came from. It was never specified, though. Good ol' ZUN. If you want to hear my own headcanon, Yuyuko adopted it as her name because her father died in Hirokawa and then she found some vague and symbolic association with it and her power to manipulate death.

 **Why do you sometimes spell Saigyou as _Saigyo?_**

Did I? Oops, busted. To tell you the truth I sometimes just forgot. They pronounce the same way, it's just that the romanization sometimes vary. Some of you also might have noticed that I use Saigyou Hoshi, putting the last name ahead of the first name the traditional way, as opposed to the standardized Western way of putting the last name behind the first, such as Hoshi Saigyou. That was a mistake too, because originally I didn't notice that Wikipedia stuck with the traditional naming. He's going to be known as Hoshi Saigyo(u) like the way everyone else is in the future.

 **So who was Wendy Hearn, really?**

The quick answer is that she is an OC, completely unrelated to Touhou Project and is a fabric of my own imagination. The detailed answer gets a little complicated. First things first, you'll have to know more of my headcanons. I know, very exciting.

Still here? Good. So, what I think is that, Yukari, despite her the obvious overpowered-ness of her gaps (she did admit at one point that they are not "omnipotent" somewhere in an official print manga, I think _Silent Sinner in Blue,_ but that is irrelevant here...maybe), has a lot of trouble when trying to direct them anywhere outside of Japan. The numerous kami in Shinto are usually bound within one area, be it the object they possess or the land they rule, so inspired from this, I imagine that the same applies with Yukari. She could direct her gaps anywhere in Japan, but if she tries to reach, let's say America for consistency's sake, it becomes extremely tiring. She probably can't even put one up for more than two seconds.

With that out of the way, here is really what went on with Wendy. Since Yukari is the Overseer of Gensokyo (a title that I made up, but she does assume a similar role), she is responsible for the dominating population of youkai there, and since they are not allowed to touch the humans, someone has to feed them and keep them satisfied. So she decided to regularly kidnap humans from the outside world in order to keep the youkai from outright raiding the human village. Humans in Japan are easily acquired, but they are not nearly enough to provide enough for the youkai. So unless she increases her rate of kidnapping and arouses more suspicion from both outside and inside Gensokyo, she had to come up with a solution. And she did, because she's Yukari. By splitting parts of herself into various different gaps, she was able to send them (excruciatingly hard) across the world, infiltrating different nations and made relations with the perspective gangs there. I'm talking about real, big time gangs, like the Italian Mafia. There, they would work with them in order to smuggle more unsuspecting humans in to keep the youkai happy. Since human trafficking is a legitimate issue across the world, and many people go missing every day, I found this approach more applicable to Yukari and how she keeps Gensokyo in check. Wendy Hearn is one of these gaps, and she was in charge of hanging out with the Yakuza in Japan. But since Yukari could just kidnap people there herself she is rarely needed for her services, and so because of that, Wendy was left alone and lived out a life of her own. This theory may also explain Maribel Hearn, the canon Yukari look-alike who lives in the outside world and who as of now offered zero explanations regarding her true identity whatsoever, as a replacement for Wendy in the distant future she takes place in. But hey, that's just my headcanon. Don't need to take it seriously, though you might want to consider them if you were to read the follow-up sequel.

Yes, there is going to be a sequel. I mean, this ended on a cliffhanger and all.

If you want a simpler and a more true reason of creating a character like Wendy, though, it's because of Sumireko Usami. Since she is _strongly_ suggested to be Renko Usami's ancestor at the present time, I find it a little depressing for her to not have a friend like Maribel with Renko. So Wendy was created to compliment on that matter. They were best buds for life until Miles came along.

 **When will you write the sequel?**

Now we're asking the real questions. I'm definitely going to write a sequel to conclude this Touhou story, yes, but it's going to be after another project of mine, which I will occupy myself with starting next year. Since it's going to be as long as this one, it might take another whole year for me to finish it, so to answer the question...maybe one year later. Sorry to blue-ball you guys like this.

If any of you are interested in a Jojo's Bizzare Adventure story though, you're in luck. Coming soon somewhere early Janurary next year.

And with this we end this little Q&A session. Once again a huge thank you for those that stuck with me. Whether you followed this little story since the first week/month of its publication, or you have just noticed it recently, I want to let all of you know that I am grateful for your support. Writing is a passion of mine, and while English might not be my first language, as many of you had no doubt seen my numerous spelling errors and grammatical mistakes firsthand, I will try my best to churn out more words for you to enjoy as I continously improve my writing.

So there, have an early Happy Holidays!

Best regards, Invincible East.


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